Hospital says Steve Jobs in 'excellent' state following liver transplant
In a bid to settle the question of his health once and for all, Apple chief Steve Jobs has acknowledged that he did undergo a liver transplant at Methodist University Hospital and that he has come out of surgery in good condition.
The executive gave permission to the Tennessee hospital to publish the news after a leak on Friday had all but confirmed the operation in the southeastern state.
Program director Dr. James D. Eason justified a transplant of the sort, which can sometimes be controversial due to its uncertainty, by noting that Jobs likely needed it. He was the patient with the greatest likelihood of developing an end-stage liver disease among those with a blood type matching the next available donor liver; as such, he was a prime candidate for the operation.
Even so, as he was the patient with the greatest risk in the waiting line, the Apple co-founder is now believed to have come out of his surgery with an "excellent prognosis" and a strong recovery.
Jobs declined to provide more information on the reasons for the surgery or his current state, but experts may have answered these questions themselves. Physicians speculating about the operation suggest that, like the majority patients who recovered from the form of pancreatic cancer he had in 2004, the cancer had metastasized in his liver, creating the "hormonal imbalance" that ultimately forced Jobs to take leave of his normal office for the past six months.
Tennessee is known to have been chosen for the small size of its transplant waiting list. Where the median number of days a patient would have to wait for a procedure in the US was 306 as of 2006, Tennessee's list was just 48 -- enough to virtually guarantee an operation during Jobs' hiatus. Methodist University Hospital also points out that it's one of the ten largest locations offering liver transplants in the US and that Jobs specifically chose the hospital due to its strong reputation for patient survival rates.
While it's not known just how healthy the Apple CEO is or when his surgery actually took place -- the most recent leak points to two months earlier -- Jobs has purportedly been seen on campus this week. He was also quoted in a press release for the first time in months on Monday, hinting that he's ready to return to work in at least a partial capacity.
The executive gave permission to the Tennessee hospital to publish the news after a leak on Friday had all but confirmed the operation in the southeastern state.
Program director Dr. James D. Eason justified a transplant of the sort, which can sometimes be controversial due to its uncertainty, by noting that Jobs likely needed it. He was the patient with the greatest likelihood of developing an end-stage liver disease among those with a blood type matching the next available donor liver; as such, he was a prime candidate for the operation.
Even so, as he was the patient with the greatest risk in the waiting line, the Apple co-founder is now believed to have come out of his surgery with an "excellent prognosis" and a strong recovery.
Jobs declined to provide more information on the reasons for the surgery or his current state, but experts may have answered these questions themselves. Physicians speculating about the operation suggest that, like the majority patients who recovered from the form of pancreatic cancer he had in 2004, the cancer had metastasized in his liver, creating the "hormonal imbalance" that ultimately forced Jobs to take leave of his normal office for the past six months.
Tennessee is known to have been chosen for the small size of its transplant waiting list. Where the median number of days a patient would have to wait for a procedure in the US was 306 as of 2006, Tennessee's list was just 48 -- enough to virtually guarantee an operation during Jobs' hiatus. Methodist University Hospital also points out that it's one of the ten largest locations offering liver transplants in the US and that Jobs specifically chose the hospital due to its strong reputation for patient survival rates.
While it's not known just how healthy the Apple CEO is or when his surgery actually took place -- the most recent leak points to two months earlier -- Jobs has purportedly been seen on campus this week. He was also quoted in a press release for the first time in months on Monday, hinting that he's ready to return to work in at least a partial capacity.
Comments
He has a capable team, and he can live a good life while still being a part of his passion - Apple and all that entails.
All the best to you Steve!
Jobs has purportedly been seen on campus this week. He was also quoted in a press release for the first time in months on Monday, hinting that he's ready to return to work in at least a partial capacity.
Long enough to drag "our customers only love glossy screens" Phillip Schiller into a back room somewhere and beat some sense into him.
... Physicians speculating about the operation suggest that, like the majority patients who recovered from the form of pancreatic cancer he had in 2004, the cancer had metastasized in his liver, creating the "hormonal imbalance" that ultimately forced Jobs to take leave of his normal office for the past six months. ...
Again you guys publish this idea that "his cancer returned," yet this very site has published a couple of articles indicating that the type of cancer he has *rarely* metastasises.
Which is it? Either he had the type of pancreatic cancer that rarely recurs or spreads, or he had the kind that spreads in "the majority." It can't be both.
You also mention that the reason for replacing the liver is to decrease the likelihood of liver "disease" but then say that "Physician's speculate" that this is instead due to cancer. WTF?
Did he have his liver cut out because of complications from the previous procedure or because he had cancer? They are completely different things that would give him totally different future outcomes. With the cancer one he's likely to die soon regardless of how successful the operation was, with the other one he could live for decades more.
Transplanted livers can last in the best case scenario for up to 10 years. At that time, he will either require a new transplant or we'll have figured a way to reliably grow organs from a patients own DNA, meaning that he'll get a new liver that is his own.
In the meantime, I'm sure Steve will begin preparing for his exit (which could still take years).
Any man with the knowledge that his ilfe could end in 10 years or less would choose family over work. I expect Steve to work at Apple for the next 2 years at most and then perhaps retain a small role as a consultant for the company while he enjoys life with his wife, kids and friends.
Long enough to drag "our customers only love glossy screens" Phillip Schiller into a back room somewhere and beat some sense into him.
Or all those flubbed App demos.....
Again you guys publish this idea that "his cancer returned," yet this very site has published a couple of articles indicating that the type of cancer he has *rarely* metastasises.
Which is it? Either he had the type of pancreatic cancer that rarely recurs or spreads, or he had the kind that spreads in "the majority." It can't be both.
You also mention that the reason for replacing the liver is to decrease the likelihood of liver "disease" but then say that "Physician's speculate" that this is instead due to cancer. WTF?
Did he have his liver cut out because of complications from the previous procedure or because he had cancer? They are completely different things that would give him totally different future outcomes. With the cancer one he's likely to die soon regardless of how successful the operation was, with the other one he could live for decades more.
You obviously missed the very informative thread on this on AI from a few days ago, where a few seemingly knowledgable onclogist-types explained it well.
(If you scroll down on AI's main page, you should still be able to see it.)
Or, see Kibitzer's very helpful post right below......
Again you guys publish this idea that "his cancer returned," yet this very site has published a couple of articles indicating that the type of cancer he has *rarely* metastasises.
Which is it? Either he had the type of pancreatic cancer that rarely recurs or spreads, or he had the kind that spreads in "the majority." It can't be both.
You also mention that the reason for replacing the liver is to decrease the likelihood of liver "disease" but then say that "Physician's speculate" that this is instead due to cancer. WTF?
Did he have his liver cut out because of complications from the previous procedure or because he had cancer? They are completely different things that would give him totally different future outcomes. With the cancer one he's likely to die soon regardless of how successful the operation was, with the other one he could live for decades more.
It can be confusing, but here is what one medical specialist by the handle "agrothey" posted on a related thread here a few days ago:
"Liver transplant for neuroendocrine cancer
As a GI medical oncologist, I can assure you that a liver transplantation is one of the options to treat a metastatic neuroendocrine cancer of the pancreas. What most people do not realize is that SJ did NOT suffer from a "normal" pancreatic cancer, but from a rare tumor called "islet cell cancer", which is associated with a much better prognosis than pancreatic cancer. These tumors unfortunately commonly metastasize (seed) into the liver - but a liver transplant can cure patients.
The WSJ story is perfectly plausible and explains some of the issues I was wondering about, e.g. the predefined set time frame of SJ's return to work."
It will help you further if you take the time to read all of agrothey's posts in the thread at this link:
http://forums.appleinsider.com/showt...threadid=99518
Any man with the knowledge that his ilfe could end in 10 years or less would choose family over work.
And, how do you know that?
While he may be in "excellent condition", the sad truth is that transplanted organs require a barrage of daily medication to prevent his body from rejecting the alien organ (alien as in not recognized by his system to be a natural part of his body).
Transplanted livers can last in the best case scenario for up to 10 years. At that time, he will either require a new transplant or we'll have figured a way to reliably grow organs from a patients own DNA, meaning that he'll get a new liver that is his own.
In the meantime, I'm sure Steve will begin preparing for his exit (which could still take years).
Any man with the knowledge that his ilfe could end in 10 years or less would choose family over work. I expect Steve to work at Apple for the next 2 years at most and then perhaps retain a small role as a consultant for the company while he enjoys life with his wife, kids and friends.
Really, according to the Center of Liver Disease and Transplantation, they say up towards 30 years:
Q: How long will my liver transplant last?
A: Liver transplant can have excellent outcomes. Recipients have been known to a normal life over 30 years after the operation.
According to the most recent year computed UNOS/OPTN (2004) national average one-year graft survival at 83%, and patient survival at 87% for patients receiving a deceased donor liver and 92% for those transplanted with an organ from a living donor. Five-year graft and patient survivals are 67% (deceased/2000) 62% (living/2000) and 76% (deceased/2000) 81% (living/2000), respectively. During 2006 at New York Presbyterian, our one-year graft and patient survival rates are 82% and 88%.
It is important to remember that many factors come into play with these statistics. They represent ALL patients transplanted, including the very old and the very young, those who were critically ill and those with less severe liver problems at the time of transplant.
Transplant recipients directly contribute to the success of their transplant. Failure to comply with the immunosuppression medical regimen is the number one cause of organ failure. Close follow-up with your transplant team and primary-care physician can help ensure a good outcome. Careful attention to medication schedules, lifestyle changes, infection-avoidance techniques are all important ways to prolong one's life after transplantation.
As far as I know from people who work in the transplant field, once cancer has metastasized or spread beyond the primary tumor, the disease is treatable, and not curable. In this context, people who have metastatic cancer are not eligible for transplants, possibly because the cancer has probably spread to other parts of the body in addition to the liver, and because their life expectancy won't be substantially helped by swapping a malignant organ out for a healthy one. Maybe this is cause for optimism, i.e., Steve Job's cancer has not metastasized. That would please me. I hear he's a mean dude, but he's one of the most important figures of his time in terms of teh positive impact he's had on culture and society. And he's not finished yet. Sick or no, I'm betting he still has a few great things to give to the world before he checks out.
Again, please read agrothey's posts at the link below. He is a gastrointestinal medical oncologist and describes the unusual aspects of the cancer that Jobs has been fighting.
http://forums.appleinsider.com/showt...threadid=99518
While I maintain that his health is none of our business, it's certainly comforting to know that all is well.
To your health, Steve Jobs!
While he may be in "excellent condition", the sad truth is that transplanted organs require a barrage of daily medication to prevent his body from rejecting the alien organ (alien as in not recognized by his system to be a natural part of his body).
Transplanted livers can last in the best case scenario for up to 10 years. At that time, he will either require a new transplant or we'll have figured a way to reliably grow organs from a patients own DNA, meaning that he'll get a new liver that is his own.
In the meantime, I'm sure Steve will begin preparing for his exit (which could still take years).
Any man with the knowledge that his ilfe could end in 10 years or less would choose family over work. I expect Steve to work at Apple for the next 2 years at most and then perhaps retain a small role as a consultant for the company while he enjoys life with his wife, kids and friends.
I keep seeing quite a few people throwing around this 10 year figure, and I personally am wondering where that comes from. Anybody with an interest can Google this, and if they do, they will find plenty of information to contradict that claim. For example, in a British study, life expectancy after liver transplant was a median of 22.2 years, with 95% of patients living between 19.3 and 25.6 years. That was compared to a median of 29 years for other patients. So, a 7 year difference, but far better than the 10 years people around here are suggesting. Jobs is 56. If he lives 20 years longer, he will be 76, and that is pretty good. If he makes it the median expectancy, he will be 78. If he makes it to the outside of that 95% confidence interval, he will be almost 82.
I can't pretend to know what SJ will or will not do with his life and his time, but I think parading around announcing his imminent death, or some sort of 10 year limited warranty for his liver, is premature and also not very nice. If he makes it past 6 months without rejection, the odds are really good for him that he can go 20 years or more. But that's all just missing the point anyway. Shouldn't we just be wishing him well and saying 'thanks for the great work, hope you continue it, but if you don't, we certainly understand.'
I hear he's a mean dude, ...
Not mean. He has a short fuse when in the presence of incompetence.
The media is not going to let this one go to rest anytime soon. This story is going to be used to manipulate Apple stock to the hilt. I wonder if it has enough power to maybe dissuade potential Apple product buyers by casting Steve and Apple in a bad light. Power of the press is a fairly scary thing. There is absolutely zero proof that Steve bought a liver, yet there will be plenty of speculation about how he got a transplant as soon as he did. Even if the waiting list was short in that region, they'll suspect something fishy. Hey, he could have just gotten lucky.
Nobody is guaranteed how long their life is going to be even if it was the most perfect liver transplant in the world. He can still fall down the stairs or slip on a banana peel. Or be the one person that manages to get 30 more years out of his life by just sheer willpower. I really don't understand why the news media is saying things like, they're not sure if he can manage a full day's work or he's only got a few months to live. It's really just so annoying to hear the media put a time period on a human life. Why all this transplant talk should affect Apple's share price, I have no idea.
Not mean. He has a short fuse when in the presence of incompetence.
THAT MEANS WHEN VISITING THE BC STORE, HE ASKED THE PILOT TO FLY THE PLANE WAY AROUND REDMOND, SO HE WOULDN"T COMPLETELY EXPLODE IF HE SENSED THE PRESENCE OF STEVE BALMER!
But seriously, what loyalty and stamina he has to return to work after all that. He can easily afford to stay home and just play with the kids. His input and ideas are just too important to us!
Steve Dowling, in charge of Apple's Corporate Public Relations, has spoken to a Reuters reporter Monday about a confidential matter concerning a brawl between the Phillip Schiller, Chief of Marketing and CEO Steve Jobs at Apple's Cupertino HQ campus.
Phillip Schiller was blackened and bruised about the face with a slightly bloody nose and a cut lip.
Asked what the brawl was about, a teary eyed Phil reportely replied "fsck you, I still like glossy screens" and stomped off in the direction of his car. The Reuters reporter noticed a shoe imprint on the buttocks portion of Phil's pants.
http://www.reuters.com/apple/brawlatcupertino