“Apple Computer Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs has had successful surgery for a rare form of pancreatic cancer, the company’s co-founder told employees in a company-wide e-mail on Sunday that was made available to Reuters,” Duncan Martell reports for Reuters.
“Jobs, 49, wrote in the e-mail sent from his hospital bed that he plans to return to work in September after recuperating in August. In his absence, Tim Cook, head of worldwide sales and operations, will run the Cupertino, California-based company, maker of the Macintosh computer and popular iPod portable digital music player,” Martell reports.
“‘This weekend I underwent a successful surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from my pancreas,’ Jobs wrote in the e-mail. ‘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 added that he ‘will not require any chemotherapy or radiation treatments,'” Martell reports. Full article here.
The full text of Steve Jobs’ email to Apple Computer, Inc. employees:
Team,
I have some personal news that I need to share with you, and I wanted you to hear it directly from me.
This weekend I underwent a successful surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from my pancreas. 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). I will not require any chemotherapy or radiation treatments.
The far more common form of pancreatic cancer is called adenocarcinoma, which is currently not curable and usually carries a life expectancy of around one year after diagnosis. I mention this because when one hears “pancreatic cancer” (or Googles it), one immediately encounters this far more common and deadly form, which, thank god, is not what I had.
I will be recuperating during the month of August, and expect to return to work in September. While I’m out, I’ve asked Tim Cook to be responsible for Apple’s day to day operations, so we shouldn’t miss a beat. I’m sure I’ll be calling some of you way too much in August, and I look forward to seeing you in September.
Steve
PS: I’m sending this from my hospital bed using my 17-inch PowerBook and an Airport Express.
MacDailyNews Take: Get well soon, Steve!
Related MacDailyNews article:
What happens when Steve Jobs dies? – August 20, 2003