Jobs Health Concerns Related to Food Absorption, Not Cancer?

[NT1440]

Five months sounds about right to allow them to not only treat the issues once they pinpoint the cause, but to allow him to have some stress reduction in his life.

Not to mention that also fits into the time line his doctors gave him to regain weight.

I think this will be good for apple. Sure the stock will tank at first, but them people are going to see with the release of their new products that Apple still has the same products, nothing has changed other than a temporary leave by Steve. THEN maybe the stock wont jump all over the place at every damn little rumor.

Have a good vacation steve, the best of luck to you.

 

[queshy]

I don't really care at all about Apple. It's in good hands while he's away. I just hope he gets better

 

[Eidorian]

Let's stop fooling ourselves, everybody. Eidorian is right.

Thank you for confirming what I already knew.

Nevermind that months of denying that he's known exactly what's wrong with him — knowing that it would affect Apple's stock price if the truth came out — would be considered stock manipulation and he could face jailtime for it... WE KNOW THE TRUTH.

Steve is bulimic.

I don't know about you but I read this. I think you should too.

 

[amac4me]

Hoping for a speedy recovery for Steve Jobs.

 

[hayduke]

This doesn't really mean much. Doctors could tell you to take time off for various reasons and various time frames depending on the severity of the issue. I won't speculate as to jobs' specific illness, and it certainly may be very serious... but your reasoning (that there's a timeframe, therefore it must be cancer) is flawed.

(and I am a physician)
arn

Touché & +1.

I'm sending all my best vibes to Mr. Jobs via the celestial intertubes.

 

[rick30324]

Malabsorption results from his Whipple Procedure

My mom had the very same operation to treat pancreatic cancer. Malabsortion is a very common result, and you could in fact call it a "hormone imbalance." Insulin is a hormone. The pancreas produces insulin. When you remove a good portion of the pancreas, which is what happens in a Whipple procedure, there a good chance of malabsorption. My mom has to remember to take pancreatic enzymes 30 minutes before each and every meal.

 

[jaw04005]

Good to hear it's not cancer. I wish him and his family the best.

 

[Sol]

Hope this helps him! As a medical student, AAPL shareholder, and Apple enthusiast, I'd rather see him happy and healthy than have the latest iPod or iMac.

Why would it be one or the other? Apple will continue to update the iPods no matter who is in charge.

As a keen herbivore I point the finger at Steve Jobs' life-time commitment to vegetarianism. If he ate a normal protein-rich diet his body would not be having trouble absorbing the rabbit-food he feeds it.

 

[Jwalker9]

This doesn't really mean much. Doctors could tell you to take time off for various reasons and various time frames depending on the severity of the issue. I won't speculate as to jobs' specific illness, and it certainly may be very serious... but your reasoning (that there's a timeframe, therefore it must be cancer) is flawed.

(and I am a physician)
arn

first year med student here. My pathology professor that just started lecturing to us is a pretty cool guy, uses an iphone, carries a mbp to class every day, so that made me like him right off the bat. However, the other day in class, he stopped and asked if anyone had been reading the news about Steve Jobs. I immediately shot my hand up as did a few other apple faithful in the class. He went on to talk about how Steves health is rapidly declining and he suspects that he will die within the next 6 months or so. My inner monologue was saying no Dr Zaman, you are wrong, steve said hes just having hormone issues and it should be easy to treat, but what do I know as a MS-1. I went and talked to him after class and brought up the subject. He said Steve had a Whipple procedure and even though the surgery went well, people with his form of cancer still have a lot of side effects down the road that lead to death with about 5 years. He is worried about what will happen to Apple when Steve eventually passes, but it was cool to bond with one of my professors over Steve and Apple. We are trying out Keynote 09 now with the presenter on the iphone.
Anyways, thought I'd share that and see if Arn has any input from his career in internal med?

 

[drditty]

fix for "not being able to absorb food"

is TPN: total parenteral nutrition

If the patient cannot maintain their nutrition with oral feedings, they can survive for years, even decades by intravenous nutrition. When a patient loses a certain amount of weight, they reach a "danger point" where they are at risk of death. This happens in a variety of medical conditions, a good example is anorexia nervosa.

If this sort of therapy is being instituted, it would require close monitoring, and it would be unlikely that the patient would be able to function at a high level at least during the initiation of therapy and for some time thereafter.

As a digestive disease specialist, I'm not at all clear what is going on, but it appears quite serious. BTW the neuroendocrine tumor in 2004 appeared to have been successfully resected, and whatever is going on seems to be a new issue and may not be related to that malignancy. He seemed fine a year ago, looking back at the '08 Keynote.

 

[Small White Car]

As a keen herbivore I point the finger at Steve Job's life-time commitment to vegetarianism. If he ate a normal protein-rich diet his body would not be having trouble absorbing the rabbit-food he feeds it.

BS. I am friends with 2 people who have Crohn's Disease, which sounds a LOT like what Steve has.

Both my friends were avid meat eaters and still faced a life-threatening illness. So you can take your "opinion that sounds like a fact" and stuff it. They didn't do anything to CAUSE their own suffering and I'm pretty ticked that you would imply they did.

 

[Gunga Din]

My mom had the very same operation to treat pancreatic cancer. Malabsortion is a very common result, and you could in fact call it a "hormone imbalance." Insulin is a hormone. The pancreas produces insulin. When you remove a good portion of the pancreas, which is what happens in a Whipple procedure, there a good chance of malabsorption. My mom has to remember to take pancreatic enzymes 30 minutes before each and every meal.

This is correct. If you lack certain enzymes, you will not be able to break down food correctly. Could be simple as that, but they need to run further tests to see where he is lacking and then supplement those requirements.

Or it could be more complicated. Honestly, u really need to know what exactly is going on to make assumptions. I don't think these forums should try to diagnose his problem. Just move on and hope for the best.

Yes, I'm a Dr. too Veterinarian

 

[NT1440]

Lotta "doctors" on these forums....

And surprisingly, alot of actual doctors as well

 

[bobsentell]

Well, I pray he will make a speedy recovery.

 

[MovieCutter]

Give the guy a few months off. Let his mind and body rest. Here's to you Steve!

 

[alfonsog]

Hmm... I don't know of any food absorption problems that make you leave your job for 5 months.

My best friend/ex has crohn's disease and dropped to 85 lbs. at one point. He couldn't work for almost a year (his normal weight when we met was 110, and he is 5'7".) Stress makes things a lot worse with that too.

 

[drditty]

lots of Doctors

would love an apple laptop/netbook that would be useful for EMR. Lightweight, touchscreen and keyboard (no not the heavy keyboardless modbook) that could be used for work. The only good thing about using PC laptops at work is that I appreciate my macs when I get home.

 

[alexbates]

...cut down on stress, which may be making the problem worse...

There we go. That must be why he's gone for 6 months. No more Apple, no more stress. Even though I wouldn't think he's under much stress because we're talking about Apple. If we talk about Ballmer... he's about to die of stress.

 

[mac jones]

This could be very good news.

Much better that he takes a break to try to get well rather than croak at the helm.

(How do you shut down these types of guys? Must not be easy )

 

[The Toddfather]

As a keen herbivore I point the finger at Steve Jobs' life-time commitment to vegetarianism. If he ate a normal protein-rich diet his body would not be having trouble absorbing the rabbit-food he feeds it.

Unreal. Let's hope if you are unfortunate to contract a life threatening disease that people are not as callous to you.

Good luck Steve.

 

[amac4me]

If we talk about Ballmer... he's about to die of stress.

Imagine how he'd feel if another Windows version falls flat on its face ... 7 perhaps?

 

[NathanCH]

My best friend/ex has crohn's disease and dropped to 85 lbs. at one point. He couldn't work for almost a year (his normal weight when we met was 110, and he is 5'7".) Stress makes things a lot worse with that too.

That's wonderful. Unrelated, but wonderful.

 

[salvatorereda]

the party is over!!!!!
Lets all wish him well, and hope APPL wont loose its great principles of good computers and great design.

 

[NT1440]

the party is over!!!!!
Lets all wish him well, and hope APPL wont loose its great principles of good computers and great design.

In 6 months? With the same people working there?

HOW would that happen?

 

[Gregintosh]

Doesn't the pancreas have something to do with food absorption? Hmm... even if the cancer returned maybe he is suffering from some side effects of his treatments or of the disease from before.

I am not a doctor but I heard somewhere that a great deal of people who have cancer don't necessarily die of the disease but from complications related to it.

For those who say that its none of our business, it is. He is the CEO of a major company and he is also a hands-on one, meaning his health directly impacts the performance of the company. Even if we don't own stock, we are stakeholders, because as Apple fans (or people who rely on Apple products to make our livings) Steve's health can have a direct impact on our lives too.

With that said, I hope he recovers quickly and keeps Apple going strong!