"I didn't want my body to be opened..."

[Amerigo Vespucci]

In one of the most hotly-anticipated biographies of the year, "Steve Jobs," author Walter Isaacson reveals that the Apple CEO offered to design political ads for President Obama's 2012 campaign despite being highly critical of the administration's policies and that Jobs refused potentially life-saving surgery on his pancreatic cancer because he felt it was too invasive. Nine months later, he got the operation but it was too late.

***

For his first interview about the book, Isaacson talked to "60 Minutes" for the Sunday, Oct. 23 episode, telling host Steve Kroft that he was shocked about Jobs's decision to initially skip surgery for his pancreatic cancer -- that such a genius could make such a wrong decision about his own health.

"I've asked (Jobs why he didn't get an operation then) and he said, 'I didn't want my body to be opened ... I didn't want to be violated in that way,' said Isaacson.

"I think that he kind of felt that if you ignore something, if you don't want something to exist, you can have magical thinking. ... We talked about this a lot," he told Kroft. "He wanted to talk about it, how he regretted it. ... I think he felt he should have been operated on sooner."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/20/steve-jobs-biography-obama_n_1022786.html

[kestrel91316]

1. Sigh. There is no worse "violation" of one's body than to have it literally

eaten up from inside by cancer.

I thought you were smarter than this, Mr. Jobs.

[blm]

2. Think of all of those people who WISH they had the means to pay for neded operations. What a world

we live in.

[MineralMan]

3. Well, it doesn't matter to him any longer.

Magical thinking indeed. There's a lot of that going around these days. It's rarely a good idea. Modern medicine does some wonderful things. I can't say the same for the alternative, though.

[Warpy]

10. Decent diet added to standard medical care

will increase well being and decrease recovery time. However, it's no substitute for standard medical care.

I'm sorry he was a sucker for charlatans and quacks who told him it was.

He will be missed. They're still in business.

[KoKo]

4. Well....he had a choice with mega bucks and he made it and lived and died by his decision

and since it was HIS CHOICE...I sure as hell am not going to give the Big Pharma more money because Isaccson questions Steve's choice along with Steve. You make your choices and you have to live with the big ones. It's sad but true for all of us. :-(

[DaveJ]

5. Well there ya go...

And people called him a genius.

[elfin]

6. He was so into Zen and the mind over body thing

along with taking care of his body along those lines that it may have likely killed him.

Also perhaps mono-maniacal in matters other than Apple and doing whatever it takes to "change the world" - even if that means forgoing surgery or making products in China.

Sad. Perhaps a bit of Aspbergers ? Who knows?

He was great -- but ultimately flawed, due to not listening to others, once he decided on the best path, whether it was for a device or for his own life.

He did "change the world" - at least for us in these times. It seems that was enough for him -- but I suspect, not enough for his family or dear friends.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

8. Another quote from the article

"I wanted my kids to know me," Isaacson quoted Jobs as saying in their final interview. "I wasn't always there for them and I wanted them to know why and to understand what I did."

[Exilednight]

16. And he's not there for his kids now. n/t

[Odin2005]

13. I have Asperger's and am a Buddhist and I certainly would have any cancer cut out ASAP.

[Chemisse]

7. Denial can be a powerful factor.

Sometimes the mind convinces us of something that is illogical, just to protect us having to know the horrible truth.

[Webster Green]

9. I got cancer once, and let the docs get me opened as quickly as possible.

Turned my body over to them without thinking twice about it. A no brainer.

That was in 1978.

[seabeyond]

11. yea, you.

glad you are around.

:toast:

[Webster Green]

14. Thanks!

Me too.

Cheers! :toast:

[Odin2005]

12. What a fool. he didn't want his body "violated"? WTF?

[canetoad]

15. His body. His life.

His choice. No exceptions to the rule.

[Liquorice]

17. I don't judge him. We don't all react the same way when

confronted with something like cancer. He wasn't stupid; he was scared, like any human being would be. He didn't make the right choice, but in the middle of a crisis like that, it's hard to think clearly. Apparently his natural inclination was to try to cure himself. It's hard to know how a person will react to news like that. Just because one person would get the surgery right away, doesn't make that person "better" than someone who wouldn't. It's just different personality types.

I have nothing but sympathy and no judgment for what he experienced.

[johnnie]

18. His choice

He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, it usually isn't a cancer that you beat. He lived 8 more years after he was diagnosed.