 |
|
|
|
October 25th, 2011
12:27 PM ET
Steve Jobs: A difficult patientAll those vague statements about his health that Steve Jobs put out in the last few years caused endless speculation, as the world tried to read into what could really be going on. But now, with the biography "Steve Jobs" with Walter Isaacson, we know that behind many of those optimistic statements was a cancer that was spreading from pancreas to liver, and finally to bones and elsewhere in the body. One of the biggest surprises is that while he received state of the art medical care, he went against doctors' orders many times. When his pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor was first discovered in October 2003, doctors said he was lucky that it had been detected so early, and it could be removed before definitely spreading. But, in Jobs' own words, "I really didn't want them to open up my body, so I tried to see if a few other things would work." Those "other things" included a strict vegan diet, acupuncture, herbal remedies, and other alternative techniques - even consulting a psychic. His family pleaded with him, but it wasn't until June 2004, when a CAT scan revealed that the tumor had grown and perhaps spread, that he had to realize he couldn't successfully will his own cancer treatment. The surgery in July 2004 involved a modified Whipple procedure, removing part of the pancreas. But it wasn't a cure: Doctors found cancer spread to three spots on his liver during the operation. It's impossible to know whether having the surgery sooner would have removed the cancer before it had spread. Yet Jobs told everyone he had been "cured." In his famous 2005 Stanford Commencement speech, a rare moment of being forthcoming about his cancer to the public, he said "I had the surgery and I'm fine now." Jobs also went against doctors' orders with his eating habits. Since he was a teenager, Jobs had practiced strange routines involving fasting, and would go on obsessive diets. That's a problem because, the stomach needs enzymes to digest food and absorb nutrients, making it harder for patients who've had pancreas surgery to get enough protein. The standard of care is to have frequent meals and a diet with a variety of proteins from meats, fish and milk. But, as Isaacson points out, "Jobs had never done this, and he never would." Flash forward to 2008, when Jobs and his doctors knew the cancer was spreading. Besides being in pain, Jobs was losing a lot of weight. This was partly a result of the partial Whipple procedure, partly because his appetite was reduced because of cancer and morphine, and also because he insisted on the same restrictive diets and fasts he'd practiced since his teenage years. Sometimes he would spend weeks only eating something like apples, or a carrot salad with lemon, and then abruptly denounce that food. Isaacson writes:
In a public statement he attributed his weight loss to "a hormone imbalance that has been robbing me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis. The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple." We all had speculations, but what that actually meant was: Jobs had a hormone imbalance because his cancer had spread to his liver. He underwent a liver transplant in 2009, when his health was declining rapidly. It was successful, but doctors found that there were tumors throughout the organ, meaning the cancer had probably spread elsewhere. They also found spots on the thin membrane surrounding internal organs. Jobs again went against doctors when he insisted that they not pump out his stomach when they needed to perform a routine procedure. That led to pneumonia, and he might have died. But he survived, and didn't lose his stubbornness, even while deeply sedated. He thought the oxygen monitor on his finger was "ugly and too complex," and offered ideas for making the design simpler. His health and spirits appeared to improve after the transplant, but in November 2010 he experienced another downturn. He was a mere 115 pounds at Christmas. Doctors saw evidence of new tumors. "Every inch of his body felt like it had been punched, he told friends," Isaacson writes. And his dietary finickiness continued. The family had a part-time cook who made him a variety of healthy options, but he would refuse them after merely touching one or two to his tongue. Cancer curbs appetite, but Isaacson suggests Jobs had a deeper complication from his psychological attitude toward food. He took a third medical leave in January 2011. Jobs was among the first 20 people in the world to have a complete sequencing of all of the genes of his cancer tumor, and of his normal DNA. In this way, his medical team could choose specific drugs targeted at the molecular pathways that were promoting the abnormal growth of cancer cells. "I'm either going to be one of the first to be able to outrun a cancer like this, or I'm going to be one of the last to die from it," Jobs told Isaacson. In July 2011, however, doctors had trouble pushing back against the cancer even with targeted drugs. Jobs had stopped going to work; he was in pain, couldn't eat most solid food, and passed many days watching TV. When Jobs announced his resignation as Apple's CEO at the board meeting on August 24, the cancer had spread to his bones and other body parts. "I've had a very lucky career, a very lucky life," he told Isaacson. "I've done all that I can do." soundoff (1,566 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Next »Leave a Reply to Van Door Repair
Next entry »Jobs' cancer consultant talks health care
« Previous entryHuman Factor: Applying diet lessons to all of life
|
  About this blog
Get a behind-the-scenes look at the latest stories from CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen and the CNN Medical Unit producers. They'll share news and views on health and medical trends - info that will help you take better care of yourself and the people you love.
 |
|
|
|
The money for pharmaceuticals is in the treatment and not the cure. A "magic pill" is out there or the knowledge to produce it, that would cure cancer, AIDS and many other diseases..Fact is, pharmaceuticals would never be able to recover all their R&d costs and the like by dispensing one pill that would cure what disease afflicts you. Instead, by having you take expensive pills for the rest of your life, much more profitable for them.
Same with any business. Take divorce attorneys. Can you imagine how little money they would make if they could get the soon to be ex's to agree in 30 minutes????won't happen,,,they need to bill and keep you arguing..get the point..It's like this in all business. Imagine a car that would last 50 years with little maintenance???? You ge the point..The cure is cancer is out there but, we will never see it because there is too much money to be left on the table....
I can summarize this entire article into a single sentence. Steve Jobs died because he was an idiot.
Well said.
I think that Steve Jobs greatest skill was getting talented engineers to develop his concepts. He certainly could not develop them himself, and was no Edison as some have compared him. Getting talented engineers to develop his general concepts started with his good friend Steve Wozniak. However, the personality traits that resulted in Apple's engineers successfully developing the concepts that he envisioned and obsessively and stubbornly insisted upon while bringing a product to market, and which ultimately served him so well as Apple's CEO, did not serve him well in his cancer treatment. He apparently insisted that his cancer be dealt with according to treatment conceived on his own. Unfortunately for him, you can't boss cancer around to produce a result like he could the teams of talented engineers that developed his products. The engineers deserve just as much, if not more, credit as Job's gets.
I respect Steve as a visionary with incredible marketing skills. He brought us products that makes our life easier yet products we don't really need.
However, the things he did in his life was mostly self serving, not listening to the doctor for his wife and family sake says a lot about a person. You can gain the whole world and lose your soul....in the end, only God can judge him.
never bought apple and never will.
This article makes Steve Jobs more authentic to me. He thought he was smarter than almost everyone else and backed it up with his actions – even if it cost him his life. That gives him more integrity than just about anyone else I know.
Well said. We wouldn't even be discussing this right now if his self treatment methods had actually worked. Cancer has a mind of its own however... you can try and delay it for awhile, which he did... but invevitibly in most cases, it will return. I look at Steve's efforts as a self sacrifice in experimental treatment. Forget the iStuff, Steve's greatest accomplishment could have been the cure if it worked. But because he died trying, he's an "idiot". The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. Hopefully there's many more crazies like him working on cures for deadly deseases so that the Steve Jobs bashers can be saved.
I am thankful that Steve Jobs allowed someone unfettered access to his life. He is truly a unique person, yet his biography ensures we remember he was a person. He had fears, he had struggles, he most likely had an eating disorder that he battled.
This being said, he made an impact on the world and he cared to challenge prevailing wisdom and dream. Something we all can appreciate.
I do not think less of him because he is as human as the rest of us. I simply appreciate that he made a difference.
What lovey sentement Gil. I also think he brought so much to this world. I understand that he must have had an eating disorder to deprive his body so. I just wish that he could have overcome it for his family.
Very well said.
Although Jobs, a great man, had many faults, he was a great man who contributed much to so many. This article has scared me enough to start doing what my doctor recommended and start losing weight, regular checkups and exercising more. Whatever time the Good Lord has alloted to me, I intend to try to enjoy it. God Bless.
"Great Man" LOL
Tell that to his illegitimate that he ignored for years.
RIP Steve Jobs! I would explain his eating disorder by his full dedication to his work. I know many people who follow this eating habits and unfortunately, they suffer from many diseases later on in their life. I totally understand Steve Jobs's eating habits. I wish he gets all the great rewards from God for attempting and succeeding in making our life simpler.
What we've learned from Mr Jobs' battle with cancer is that radical and sometimes experimental therapies can buy time for patients who want to have these therapies. Most patients with pancreatic cancer have 8 months – 1 year to live as a working prognosis at the time of diagnosis – in contrast, Mr Jobs had 7 years of life following his diagnosis, most of it as a relatively well and functioning person rather than as a patient with a terminal illness. That shows that surgery, stem cell therapy, and other therapies can make a HUGE difference to patients – and in the US, we have to work to overcome the stupidity and ignorance that has denied even research into new therapies such as stem cell therapy. We hve to work for the living, and not be misled by the hypothetical and fictional. It's long past time that we rejoin an intelligent world that is pushing forward with new therapies for cancer, not run backwards to the ignorant past.
He did not have the aggressive, always malignant form of pancreatic cancer. He had the kind that's highly treatable with early detection. He ruined his odds with that medicine you're promoting.
Err: No, he didn't. He ruined his odds by opting for the alternative treatments. If he had followed Dr. advice from day one, perhaps he would have survived. There's no way of knowing for certain, but there are therapies that have been tested and confirmed to work, and there are the "alternative" methods.
Fnordz. Thanks for stating the obvious. By the way, he's the same guy that brought many people joy. Have you done the same? So good decisions or bad decisions, I am glad there was a Steve Jobs in this world.
Coming from a guy that has never purchased a MAC product. No Joke.
US doesn't deny research, but the government won't pay for it – well, at least not fetal stem cell research. Get your facts right.
How come is the Feakin doctor wasn't submit replacing Liver ? And treatment Cancer Pancreas tumor ! Kinder Blaming !
That's why right now every doctor must retest examp after every 10yrs ! And let Laura Bush to show them studying medical
stem cell so on so far !
Very well put. I feel that not much progress has been made in Cancer Research, considering how many people are dying of it.
I feel Stem Cell is the future, and should not be stopped by any Conservative or Religious Group!!
Err: "That shows that surgery, stem cell therapy, and other therapies can make a HUGE difference to patients"
Hardly innovative treatments – rather, innovative ones. Perhaps you need to overcome some ignorance of your own?
From What I've read, This Steve Jobs was a Liar, a Cheat, a Drug user and a Very Arrogant Fool.
Agreed. He was a good businessman, but not very good in any other way. Look at the way he treated his first daughter. No decent man (of any age or social standing) would do what he did. It is disturbing how highly people have elevated him despite all of this. He guy wasn't even a good manager to his employees! Give him the credit he is due with his business vision, but stop the worship! He doesn't deserve it.
Yes, Steve Jobs was flawed. Are you not? And who are you to judge?
Who knew the God, and the Son of god, both would be commenting on this article. S
True, he may have been all of the bad things mentioned here but he also made many great contributions to his fellow man.
Vivian, you need to get over yourself. Steve made some mistakes with Lisa earlier in his life, but he spent many years making up for it. It's been said that he was a wonderful father and a devoted husband. People do crazy things when they're young and stupid, but it's a testament to his character that he was able to turn himself around and become a loving family man.
Steve made a hell of a lot of contributions to society, and judging him, especially now, is just beyond wrong.
Well,he'll making Biggot Buck . Their product still made in china for any reason ,i doubt it !
Alex, I totally agree with you. I heard Steve Jobs was tyrant, firing people without cause and having regular tantrums at work but he certainly kept his dysfunctional personal life a secret. Denying his biological daughter for years, shunning his biological father, major eating disorders and ignoring doctors' advice – this behaviour certainly sours his success and this person should NOT BE idolized.
@John:
You ask who are we to judge, but, aren't people judging when they refer to him as a great man because he made popular and well received toys?
Wow! The newspaper around here should read these comments. They say that spelling isn't important anymore. I told them they are fill of shot! Ha! Ha! That should be a u and an I. I am a good speller but spellcheck automatically puts whatever It wants to put in! I spend an hour changing the words so now I type and let the chips fall where they may!
Strike to the story ! If u noisy behind the PC ! Who care about Spelling ! Feakin low life ! Get real ! Moron
Yeap... A bad choice followed by another bad choice at the wrong time and you get done with your life... 🙁
So looks like he was a genius and a moron at the same time. He had access to the best doctors in the world and he refused their help to pursue natural treatments?! Other people suffering from cancer would give anything to have his resources and have access to the same treatments.
"He thought the oxygen monitor on his finger was "ugly and too complex," and offered ideas for making the design simpler."
This is the genius part in him.
I didn't realize he was looking for your approval. I also didn't realize you could partially accept a person.
Maybe he had some obsessive compulsive disorder. While his attention to detail on his business side was not to be disputed, there were flaws on the "human" side based on his actions concerning himself and others.
Steve Jobs did a good job at apple however had a large amount of money and donated basically nothing to make the world better. People should cry when Bill Gates and Warren Buffett who have already donated a large percentage of their wealth die....
Unfortunately, you don't have the money to make that call, do you?
You are very correct. A self centered nasty man. All the throw away technologies helps us ruin our environment each day.
Actually your statement that he did not contribute to charity is false. He did but did it anonymously. Unlike Bill Gates and Warren Buffet who announce every dollar they contribute.
Mike, Steve did donate money to many charities. He did this wife's name not his.
Steve donated plenty! He just didn't go parading the fact around, because he was doing it for the right reason, not for publicity.
Bill Gates and Warren Buffet publicize their charity donation in hopes that other will also contribute to various charities they support.
It's called using your fame or celebrity for the betterment of mankind.
No matter how much we'd like to give to others, we're only human. And no matter how much we'd like to take from others, they're only human as well. Rest in peace, Steve Jobs.
He did things his own way. Good and bad.
Mostly bad.
Mostly bad? I guess your mom never told you to shut up when you don't have anything positive to add?
It's utterly disgusting to speak ill of the dead in such a way. Pathetic.
Consulting a PSYCHIC!
One of the things that amazes me the most is how OTHEWISE VERY SMART PEOPLE DO SO STUPID THINGS.
Such is life....
What you see as stupid is just that. Stupid. I'm sure there's a lot of things you do that Steve would consider stupid too. Then again, I think your comment is stupid.
Andy Kaufman supposedly sought all kinds of alternative therapies. He also died.
I was beginning to think they had already forgotten about Steve Jobs. Thankfully, here is yet another article!
For such a smart guy, not a very smart move. Cauliflower does not cure cancer dude.
To everyone fixated on grammar and the eloquence of your precious language, try becoming better human beings. The opinions shared here matter more than the words chosen to express them. Perhaps, your anger stems from not having anything worthy of sharing at all. Your carefully chosen words obviously do more harm than good and that should really be the issue upon which you most greatly focus. No one cares about how you well you might say something because you aren't really saying anything at all! The world has lost yet another unique individual who made each day better than the last. He chose to "think different." I suggest you do the same. Then again, maybe you enjoy being miserable. If that's the case, may more misery find you.
Ok Mr, Positive. It's a far reach saying he made the world better. Very congratulatory on your part. If he'd have made the world better, he'd have invented a way of recycling technology toxic equipment where it doesn't poison the world. Oh wait, that would be counter to his business. He was a maniacal controlling nasty man.
i believe this is a case of a person who thinks he's smarter than he really is. i am sure steve jobs was plenty smart. but a doctor is a doctor. of course, steve jobs probably got to where he was listening to his own advice, not the advice of others so i am sure that had a lot to do with his stubbornness.
i used to be one of those annoying people who'd doubt everything her physician told her. of course i can much better care for my "illness" doing my own search on the web. right-o.
there are exceptional cases where a patient becomes so involved in his own care of a rare disease that he might do better for himself doing his own research. but that is the exception, not the rule. and it takes time, something one can ill afford when diagnosed with a highly lethal disease.
i am not super smart. but i'm smart enough to know that i don't know. doctors can be damn annoying sometimes. but trust that they know better than you do. just get one with a good bedside manner and allow yourself to benefit from his years of experience as a medical professional.
Maybe it's a case of a crazy person?
This has nothing to do with being smart or crazy. This is a case of a deeply spiritual man believing he wanted to keep his soul pure and not damage his body with surgery. Yes, I'm aware that some people would call this "crazy." I have called religious people "crazy" several times. But Steve wasn't being stupid, he was just doing what HE thought was best for HIS body. He would probably make the same choice again if he could. I don't think that's crazy. I think that's a man wanting to live his own life and make his own choices.
He could still be alive if he listened to his doctor. What an ass.
And you know this how? Oh! By pulling this out of your a$$
I´ve got my mother with this disease, and it´s really a damned cancer, it ruins lives, and my family is getting crazy over her depression, and her decisions over meals. It´s kind of impossible to make her eat even when she´s low on Fentanil (hundred times more powerful than morfine). My condolences go to Steve´s family, that I believe to have suffered even more, seeing him killing himself over the years like he did. There was no money that could have saved Steve´s life, although he might have been aware of a death possibility, he didn´t believe in it, just as my mother doesn´t. I wish he was more of a hero and less of a selfish and spoiled brat, cause he could have done more to survive than he did. If the rest of the world had his opportunities, I bet that the surviving rate wouldn´t be only 5% in the first 5 years.
Selfish spoiled brat? You are a prime example of misinformation.
Jobs was a jerk. All his nasty treatment of people, family and friends, and for what? So people can play music, or have a little hand held computer? Like the walkman, Those things would've come along anyway. I'm glad I never purchased any Apple product. His workers are probably happy. He's best remembered as a maniac.
Someone's got a lot of spite in them. Can anyone guess who?
Living a "natural" life means that you live until 45. That's how long average people lived before the 20th century.
Only modern medicine, modern diet, and modern lifestyles increase people's longevity. Living naturally usually meant an early death when none of the modern things we take for granted existed.
"Normal" people (that means most of us) are uninteresting and don't become famous. Only people who are border-line nuts become great artiest or scientists or whatever.
I love how everyone Jobs was in contact with is talking crap now that he's dead. Give the guy a break and let him RIP. How about focusing on talking about all the great things that he did? I can't stand apple products for some reason and only own an ipod shuffle but I very much appreciate and respect what Jobs has done.
The dead don't care
What an idiot, he basically killed himself off by his own stupidity. A shame his family had to witness this. Very sorry for them.
The one man who could get the best possible treatment on earth ultimately did not survive..what point does this prove?
It proves that there is more research to do in finding cures for different types of cancers. Nothing more.
I got my book today and the first chapter I read was on how the iphone was produced. After reading this you come across only one conclusion and that is that Apple will never as innovative or imaginative as it was. There are lots of brilliant people at Apple but nobody is capable of inspring, driving and pushing the team as he did. He was the one that always saw the flaws whereas no one else did. Everyone else is satisfied but he never was and this is something that no other company including Apple now has.
People certainly make a lot of judgments, but the truth is no one knows or will ever know, whether Jobs decision to delay surgical intervention, hastened the spread of his Cancer or whether his peculiar dietary habits and use of alternative therapies did not prolong his life. He took responsibility for the management of his illness, and like many Cancer patients, eventually lost the battle. There are many things we can criticize Jobs about in retrospect, but it seems just wrong, based on our current medical knowledge, to criticize his choices. He didnt let his Cancer diagnosis stop him. I applaud his courage and
persistence in battling his illness and his refusal to allow it to cripple his spirit and creative energy.
I'm sick and tired of seeing stuff about him, but yes, I did read this. It was kind of awesome to see that he was a nutjob.
He forgot to try leaches that is why he died
Enough 'Steve was a Jerk' stories, already.
We get it. The guy was a total pain in the neck. Let's move on.
Steven Jobs in death as in life: The world's greatest Narcissist. One thing he can be certain of today: There IS a God and His Name is NOT Buddah.
Supposedly mistletoe shots cured Suzanne Somers' breast cancer.
You people are aware that Steve Jobs didn't invent any of the products his company sold aren't you? For instance, he didn't invent the digital music player (which is what the iPod is).
Also, Steve Jobs was a mean spirited, conceited and petty man.
What a moron. He had the chance to save his life and chose not to. If he had had his cancer removed like a sane person when the opportunity was FIRST given to him he might not have needed the liver transplant and that liver could have gone to someone else who needed it. He is arrogant, ignorant and selfish. Yet, his subjects worship him even more for it. Sad
i agree
Steve Jobs was brilliant in one area; computers etc., but he was obviously very stupid in others. He was not a doctor and is paying for his stubborness and then some. I am so sick of people talking about him like he was a God. He was just another man, smarter in some ways and stupid in others.
From what I read, it seems it is far more important to be a good person in life than to be a good businesman.
It appears that there is a difference between doing great things for humanity than doing great things for one self.
he must of paid CNN to run these stories before he died!
Crap, we could be hearing about this guy that is DEAD for some time...
YAWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I heard he was a very stingy and greedy guy.
He did it his way, and I admire him for it. All medical choices should ultimately be the patient's. The doctor should merely be an advisor. If the patient errs, they are the one to pay the consequences. Good job, Steve. You gave it a shot.
Jobs was gifted in many ways.....a very intelligent man, a man who tried to find God through his spiritual journeys, but unfortunately, God was already trying to reach him through the Gospel of Jesus....what good if a man profits the world but forteits his soul..... We won't know for sure if or how Jobs may have wrestled with his fate in his final hours, but God says if anyone confesses his sins and receives Jesus as his Lord and Savior, he will be saved, even if this confession was made at the final minute of his life.
It's a good thing your loving god gave him an agonizing disease so that he would "find" him.
Sybirs, you have a very limited understanding of eternity. Our lives here on earth are but a drop in the ocean compared to time in eternity. Steve Jobs would have been a richer man had he found Christ through his cancer, versus living an entire life of 100 years and dying in his sleep without ever finding Him. One scenario puts him in back in fellowship with God, and then eternity in heaven; the other, an eternity in hell as a rebel against God. It's regrettable that Mr. Jobs seems to have chosen the latter.
It's too late for Steve Jobs. His eternal fate was sealed after his last breath. But what will YOU, reader, do with YOUR life? You'll have no excuses in the end when you stand before God.
Most men are. Stop deifying this guy!.
steve jobs was deftnly smart/sensible person with innovative ideas when it comes to business.. after reading his Biography, I was shocked to read he was not very responsible with his personal life... anyway that's past...
i like muffins
The more I've read about Jobs the more he comes across as a creative jerk.
Wow. The daily @ss kissing of Steve Jobs continues. Where is his church being built, so that we my worship him properly?
RAWBLEGARBLERABLEGRABLE