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Steve Jobs Undergoes Cancer Surgery

Posted by timothy on from the get-well-soon-steve dept.

Zycom writes "Reuters reports that doctors successfully removed a cancerous tumor from the pancreas of Apple CEO Steve Jobs. In an e-mail he sent out from his hospital bed after the surgery he explained the disease, saying, "I had a very rare form of pancreatic cancer called an islet cell neuroendocrine tumor, which represents about 1 percent of the total cases of pancreatic cancer diagnosed each year, and can be cured by surgical removal if diagnosed in time (mine was)." He will not need to have any chemotherapy or radiation therapy and has an excellent prognosis. While he is recuperating, Tim Cook, head of worldwide sales and operations, will run the company."

10 of 413 comments (clear)

  1. Re:If I were the surgeon... by TiMac · · Score: 5, Insightful

    All kidding aside, I'm more than glad he's going to be okay. He's done more for the computer industry than most.

    --

  2. Re:No offense ... by telstar · · Score: 5, Insightful
    "But why slashdot of all places ?"
    • Simple as this ... no Steve Jobs ... no Apple computers ... no iMac, iCal, iPod, iBook ... you get the picture. He's one of the men that continues to shape the industry ... so when he goes under the knife, people tend to take notice.

  3. Disgusting by MacOSXHead · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I am aghast at the some of the remarks to this news.

    First of all, Steve is a father to several children and is sick with a serious illness. This alone should cause you to some show sort of decency in your remarks.

    I have a nephew who is fighting Leukemia. When you visit someone you know or who is a member of your family with cancer, it is hardly funny.

    The Slashdot community may not respect Steve Jobs for what he did for modern computing. That is their ignorance. I just cannot understand the callousness of some people who poke fun other's tragedies.

    I wish S.J. a speedy recovery, foremost for his family. I do not know him, but I know the result of his imagination. We should all strive to have that impact on the world.

    1. Re:Disgusting by aluminumcube · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Having been an EMT and having had a couple of family members suffer through various forms of cancer, let me give you a little piece of advice- humor is the glue that keeps people alive.

      I have yet to see a single comment that wished Steve harm or anything less then a full recovery. If someone had said something along those lines, it would be crossing the line into "Asshole Land," but surfing at +2 carma, I have seen nothing like that.

      Otherwise, lighten up. Cancer jokes are funny and the people that laugh at them the hardest are usually people who have/had it.

    2. Re:Disgusting by tekunokurato · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm a 22 year old cancer survivor and I don't need to say anything more than this: Laughter is the ONLY fucking way to get through this stuff.

      --
      Read jack phelps dot net
    3. Re:Disgusting by Idarubicin · · Score: 4, Insightful
      I am aghast at the some of the remarks to this news.

      In general, the remarks I have seen have been respectful of Steve's condition. Yes, some have shown a sense of humour, and some have taken a few shots at Apple's warranty plans. It should be noted that Steve has an excellent prognosis. Non-metastatic cancer, well localized and readily excised. People would be more circumspect if the outcome were more in doubt.

      Somber, humourless expressions of support are all well and good for politicians, and they're fine from close friends and family--in moderation.

      From anybody else, come on. For people who are ill, the last thing they need are folks moping morosely around their hospital bed acting like they're already dead. Steve expects to be all right, and he's apparently quite well enough to be plugging the Powerbook and AirPort from his bed. Yes, he has cancer. Yes, he's having surgery. It's more serious than a tonsillectomy, but easier than a coronary artery bypass graft. For that matter, it will probably be done laparascopically, so it's less traumatic than, say, a C-section.

      The problem is that word 'cancer'. It seems to have the same magical effect as 'terrorism'. The words are the ultimate trump cards in medicine and politics, respectively. Hear either one, and you're supposed to sit in stony, respectful, mournful silence.

      Damn it, get real! These people are our friends and family. Should we stop laughing with them just because they're ill? Treat them differently? Shy away from smiling around them? Suck the fun out of their lives because joy, and humour, and laughter are only for the healthy?

      In case some dumbass wants to spout off on my 'right' to have an opinion on this--yes, I have some experience with cancer. My best friend's mother passed away from a very aggressive breast cancer. My great uncle is pushing eighty after surviving a bout with lung cancer. I do cancer research for a living, in a large research and teaching hospital. Oh, and there seems to be a tendency towards Alzheimer's in my family, which is a really scary way to go.

      I feel for the parent poster's nephew, and everyone who is facing cancer. It is scary, and it isn't funny. What I see here on Slashdot, though, it not people laughing at Jobs' cancer. I see people laughing with Jobs, because he's going to beat cancer. I see people laughing at Jobs for the same reasons they always have, and it's a taste of normality. I see people laughing at Apple, because it's friendly ribbing that Jobs is used to. He's one of the geek family; he took the time to tell us from his hospital bed what kind of hardware he was emailing from. The parent poster still plays games and jokes with his nephew, doesn't he?

      --
      ~Idarubicin
  4. Re:A serious question. by Moofie · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Created the notion that computers should be well designed, not just raw utilitarian functionalism?

    You might disagree, and you're entitled to. Me, I think Jobs has immeasurably improved my experience of using computers.

    What has he done? Re-energized a bunch of creative engineers and designers. Led them to take on the world and design insanely great products.

    Is he a coder? Or an engineer? Or a designer? No. He's a visionary. We need all those sorts of people to advance the state of any art.

    You are, of course, free to hate his vision. I do not. : )

    --
    Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
  5. Re:A serious question. by martinX · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Reality distortion field. He makes people believe anything can happen.

    And then it does.

    --
    When they came for the communists, I said "He's next door. Take him away. Goddam commies."
  6. Re:Steve is now a Type-1 Diabetic :-( by jcr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Unfortunately, there is not much economic incentive to find a cure for Diabetes...they just make too much damn money off those insulin shots.

    Your statement presumes that those who currently sell insulin would be able to prevent the sellers of a cure from getting it to market.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  7. Re:micromanagement and credit where it is due by mj_1903 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Ok, let me rephrase it for him:

    Without Steve Jobs, the products may exist, but they most certainly would not be up to the extraidonary standard they are.

    Case in point, the original iPod as designed by engineers (pre-release) was almost impossible to navigate. Jobs sat down with the team and worked out how you could get to anywhere on the iPod with only 3 clicks. That is what sets Apple's products apart and what makes them so successful.