Steve Jobs' Official Cause of Death Listed as Respiratory Arrest and Pancreatic Tumor

[thormarketing]

My Grandmother died of Pancreatic cancer, though it was the fast progressing kind. She seemed to die peacefully, in and out of consciousness until she seemed very still with shallow breathing - eventually passing away.

It makes me sad we will never see another Keynote by Steve :-(

 

[true777]

We are selfish to still want Steve with us. Living with cancer was the greatest challenge of his life, and he faced it with grace, dignity, and humility. Knowing how short his time on this planet was made him live each day to the fullest and do the best work of his life.

Steve has no pain now. No clinic visits, no IVs, no gallons of poisons infused into him, no suffering, no side effects.

Who says a full life of 56 years is any less than a life of 76? We are thinking not of him, but of ourselves and how we would have liked him to crank out ever more products of truth and beauty for us. That's selfish. For him, leaving when it was time was a blessing. He lived a hundred lives during his time on this planet. He changed the world 5 times over and made it a better place for almost anyone.

We should be glad he let go when it was time, rather than hanging on with excruciating pain and no quality of life. Thank you Steve.

PS: During the last interview of his life 5 weeks before his death he was too weak to walk upstairs, curled up in pain in a chair, but mentally 100% clear and focused. This shows he likely refused opioid pain medication in favor of being mentally sharp -- hence, he lived with great pain, and we should be glad he's now relieved of that. The fact that he died at home likely means he refused to be intubated for breathing help, which can keep patients too weak to breathe alive for another few weeks or months. Again, we should be glad of that -- he knew he wasn't going to get better, and he had the insight to let go when it was time.

 

[guch20]

If you believe your religion can explain this, and it can't, well you might want to reconsider what you believe in.

Of course, many of the world's religions have an "escape clause" that basically states that some things aren't meant to be understood by mortals.

Remember, Steve was a Buddhist and as such, judged himself differently than bin Laden or Jong Il and most likely you.

You will need to find your own answers, ones that fit into your spiritual belief system. It appears that you haven't find those answers yet, so keep looking.

I'm an atheist, so I chalk up the fact that *******s live forever while the good die young as a cruel coincidence in our universe.

Still sucks though.

Edit: Just because I've been lectured a few times before when "coming out" as an atheist (even when the topic at hand has little or nothing to do with that) please let me state ahead of time that I'm a very happy, content, convinced, and satisfied atheist.

I'm not looking to be preached to or converted, just as I will not preach to or attempt to convert you. If you're tempted to tell me I'm going to hell or something, please just swallow your words. You'll save us both a lot of headaches. Thanks.

 

[thormarketing]

We are selfish to still want Steve with us. Living with cancer was the greatest challenge of his life, and he faced it with grace, dignity, and humility. Knowing how short his time on this planet was made him live each day to the fullest and do the best work of his life.

...

Your post is one of the best I've read! Very spot on. Thank you.

 

[wikus]

I'm an atheist, so I chalk up the fact that *******s live forever while the good die young as a cruel coincidence in our universe.

Still sucks though.

Edit: Just because I've been lectured a few times before when "coming out" as an atheist (even when the topic at hand has little or nothing to do with that) please let me state ahead of time that I'm a very happy, content, convinced, and satisfied atheist.

I'm not looking to be preached to or converted, just as I will not preach to or attempt to convert you. If you're tempted to tell me I'm going to hell or something, please just swallow your words. You'll save us both a lot of headaches. Thanks.

Interesting how speaking of atheism to a believer is considered offensive, but the reverse is basically never seen the same way.

I find it *very* offensive when a theist gives you or anyone else a condescending remark about finding some kind of 'answer' to atheists like ourselves.

I suppose its a hypocrisy we have to deal with.

 

[guch20]

Interesting how speaking of atheism to a believer is considered offensive, but the reverse is basically never seen the same way.

I find it *very* offensive when a theist gives you or anyone else a condescending remark about finding some kind of 'answer' to atheists like ourselves.

I suppose its a hypocrisy we have to deal with.

I totally agree, but that seems to be just the way it works. I recently read that atheists are the most hated and/or distrusted group in the United States, even more so than groups like Muslims, gays, and illegal immigrants (groups which are typically viewed with a less-than-friendly attitude).

http://newsjunkiepost.com/2009/09/1...eists-are-most-hated-and-distrusted-minority/

Just because we find no reason to believe in the same thing other people do. Sad, eh?

 

[justperry]

My mother in law died of pancreatic cancer 2 months ago.

May she rest in peace.

I wish I could take away all the cancer in the world.

Although I do understand what you are feeling I disagree.
The reason is, just listen to SJ Stanford commencement address, June 2005‎.
I completely agree with that speech, the old have to go to make room for the new.
Its a fact of life that we eventually all have to go, if this wasn't the case the world would be too crowded and eventually the whole "system" would collapse.
Yes I want to live as long as possible but when My time is up then thats the way it is.

R.I.P Steve, I miss you

 

[bp1000]

Although I do understand what you are feeling I disagree.
The reason is, just listen to SJ Stanford commencement address, June 2005‎.
I completely agree with that speech, the old have to go to make room for the new.
Its a fact of life that we eventually all have to go, if this wasn't the case the world would be too crowded and eventually the whole "system" would collapse.
Yes I want to live as long as possible but when My time is up then thats the way it is.

R.I.P Steve, I miss you

I know, but she died young like Steve, her mother is still with us. It doesn't seem right.

We are setting up a charity to raise funds for cancer care as we know we can't cure it yet. At least we can do something positive and support the care.

 

[CWT1965]

Entrepreneur on his death certificate was disrespectful, anyone who buys an off the shelf company gets the right to be called an entrepreneur, even a hockey mom selling home made jam on eBay is an entrepreneur, Steve was not an entrepreneur, he was a visionary, an icon, to be afforded the same occupational title as someone setting up an off the shelf company or someone selling jam on eBay is a final kick in the teeth for Steve, they should have put visionary as his occupation.

Let's hope he didn't suffer too much and was comatose when he had this respiratory failure.

 

[justperry]

I know, but she died young like Steve, her mother is still with us. It doesn't seem right.

We are setting up a charity to raise funds for cancer care as we know we can't cure it yet. At least we can do something positive and support the care.

I do agree though that Cancer Sux, another one is alzheimers, My mother has that one for over a decade and I will loose her twice.

 

[CWT1965]

Apple were a bit naughty over the way they handled the whole Steve stuff

The reason why AAPL stock was steady when Steve resigned as CEO was because he was staying on as chairman which at least gave the impression to investors/Apple fans that Steve was still going to carry on working, attend board meetings on campus, play an active day to day role via video conferencing/email/phone when infact according to the author of Steve's book Steve was so weak and ill he couldn't get up and down stairs and was curled up in pain, not the sign of someone who was in any fit state to be working from home or attending meetings.

The fact he was dead 5 weeks after resigning as CEO shows this chairman thing was just a fancy title to stop stock from collapsing.

While I don't think that Apple did anything wrong the least they could have done was been more open and honest with Steve's condition, I certainly thought he was still actively working away from home and so did most people I would imagine which made his death last week all the more shocking, hell even Reuters were saying the day before that Steve would be at the 4S unveiling when most likely he was comatose at that stage.

More transparency in the future please Apple

 

[Swedishbacon]

Rip Steve <3

 

[justperry]

Apple were a bit naughty over the way they handled the whole Steve stuff

The reason why AAPL stock was steady when Steve resigned as CEO was because he was staying on as chairman which at least gave the impression to investors/Apple fans that Steve was still going to carry on working, attend board meetings on campus, play an active day to day role via video conferencing/email/phone when infact according to the author of Steve's book Steve was so weak and ill he couldn't get up and down stairs and was curled up in pain, not the sign of someone who was in any fit state to be working from home or attending meetings.

The fact he was dead 5 weeks after resigning as CEO shows this chairman thing was just a fancy title to stop stock from collapsing.

While I don't think that Apple did anything wrong the least they could have done was been more open and honest with Steve's condition, I certainly thought he was still actively working away from home and so did most people I would imagine which made his death last week all the more shocking, hell even Reuters were saying the day before that Steve would be at the 4S unveiling when most likely he was comatose at that stage.

More transparency in the future please Apple

So all you say is that Apple manipulated stock

 

[CWT1965]

So all you say is that Apple manipulated stock

No I just wish that Apple had been as open with the public as they were with the police department who knew ages ago he was dying but instead they covered up Steve's illness and death like the old Soviet Union used to do with its dying presidents, even the secret bordering on paranoid vatican gave regular updates as to Pope John Paul II's condition when he entered the final days and weeks of his life but instead Apple gave everyone the impression that Steve was doing ok and was actively working as chairman, thus giving false hope Steve would live for years and was just taking things easy and thus making his death all the bigger shock.

Hell even on the day of the iPhone 4S keynote I was saying I expected Steve to do the keynote, Apple lulled us all into a false sense of security about Steve's state of health.

 

[sanford]

Lulled who into a false sense of security? iPhone owners? iTunes customers? Certainly not large investors. Any large investors who weren't smart enough to privately consult with experienced physicians to establish the most likely outcome of Jobs's medical status are fools. Anyone with a dog in the race knew this was coming. He quit the CEO position. Hello. But even before that it should have been obvious even if Jobs had a decade left to live he couldn't spend that decade leading Apple.

Transplant? Transplants are intended to EXTEND life. It's lovely when they extend life to an average lifespan, but that's the hope, not the reasonable expectation.

The general public was fooled by his optimism. But what did you expect? He should mope around and whine about his imminent death? Yeah, that would improve his longevity and quality of life.

Jobs's form of pancreatic cancer has a high five-year survival rate. He survived more than five years. End of story.

No I just wish that Apple had been as open with the public as they were with the police department who knew ages ago he was dying but instead they covered up Steve's illness and death like the old Soviet Union used to do with its dying presidents, even the secret bordering on paranoid vatican gave regular updates as to Pope John Paul II's condition when he entered the final days and weeks of his life but instead Apple gave everyone the impression that Steve was doing ok and was actively working as chairman, thus giving false hope Steve would live for years and was just taking things easy and thus making his death all the bigger shock.

Hell even on the day of the iPhone 4S keynote I was saying I expected Steve to do the keynote, Apple lulled us all into a false sense of security about Steve's state of health.

 

[afroAnt]

I was reading a biography of him in the newspaper, there are so many thing I didn't know about Steve, like him owning pixar and that he was adopted.

He had such an interesting life. Its sad though that cancer did let him finish it off.

RIP Steve

 

[Abacab]

Money

Here is a man that was worth well over a BILLION dollars and he still could not escape death.
I think in retrospect Steve's passion was worth more than any monetary gains.

 

[Mev75]

So true...

I can't tell you how many times I cried about Steve passing. I rarely cry, and have never done so over a public figure.

He dragged us all into the computer age, the Internet age, and the information age. The world is a darker place for his passing.

The same feelings on my side. I don't really care about people in general, the only ones I really love are my family. I am not religious and an engineer at heart but when my wife woke me up in the morning and told me that Steve has died I felt very sad. What a great man! I felt very empty the days after and looked for a way to say 'Thank you, Steve!'. Unfortunately I have not yet found a way to express my gratitude towards Steve and Apple. There will probably be only a handful of people that will raise the same feelings in me when they die as Steve has done. I know this sounds crazy, but with Steve we lose not only an entrepreneur, we lose an Idea, a Spirit, a Way to look at things.

My thoughts are with his family and friends, hopefully it's a small comfort for them to know that they could spend their lives with somehow who is loved/admired by millions of people!

Thank you!

 

[davie18]

I remember the last few keynotes, he sounded very low and his voice was changed from previous keynotes. I wonder if that is related to the respiratory issues as the COD.

I also remember when he came out for the last keynote in June and how flattered he was at the ovation he received. I wonder if he knew then that his time left would be short

I'm sure he knew that was his last keynote, I mean just look at this photo that was taken just after it:

 

[ILikeTurtles]

I personally wish he had followed traditional treatments when his cancer was discovered, and he just might have been here today. Instead, for a long time during this time, he followed an unorthodox diet as an attempt to more naturally cure himself. Only in the final (regarded by many as all too late) stages did he aggressively pursue more scientific treatments.

But... If I take some time to ponder this some more...

It is of course impossible to tell for sure which way would have given him more time. And if Steve was anything, he was a risk taker. Maybe this was the only path he would ever take. In that case, it is pointless to argue which treatment would have worked better for him. Because if Steve Jobs would have followed a more proven way to treat himaelf from the cancer, he may also not have been the Steve that left behind a series of jawdropping products. Also all products of him taking risks.

Maybe, in a sense, and staring fate in its eye, we couldn't have it another way than this, at least not with the Steve Jobs we came to know.

Actually he lived much longer because of those "unorthodox" treatments. It's pretty much unheard of to live as long as he did with pancreatic cancer. That was a miracle quite frankly.

 

[mstur]

Steve Jobs never had "pancreatic cancer"

Actually he lived much longer because of those "unorthodox" treatments. It's pretty much unheard of to live as long as he did with pancreatic cancer. That was a miracle quite frankly.

Steve Jobs, as was officially announced in 2004, suffered from an "islet cell neuroendocrine tumor". This is not your run-of-the-mill pancreatic cancer, but a completely different kind of pancreatic tumor. Some of these tumors are more benign, and some are very malign.

So, it is quite reasonable to say that MAYBE an earlier surgery might have saved him, or might have prolonged his life.

 

[Dave00]

The Bloomberg report says that the certificate says Jobs died due to a tumour which was found 5 years prior to death. He was first diagnosed in 2003, which would suggest it returned in 2006. Yet he kept on doing what he loved, working for the company he loved ... unbelievable.

Speaking as someone who has filled out a fair number of death certificates, there are some interesting things about the report. First, I'm surprised that "respiratory arrest" was listed. You're specifically not allowed to put "respiratory arrest" as a cause of death, it says it right there on the instructions. While this may at first seem strange, if you think about it, we all die from respiratory arrest. You stop breathing, you stop living. It doesn't tell you anything about the actual cause of death. So, either the person that filled out the death certificate broke the rules, or the report is mistaken.

Second, I would not read too much into the time frame, as all dates are meant to be approximate.

Third - the death certificate is meant to tell a story, marching backward in time. For instance, final cause of death could be pneumonia, and then under that you could put pulmonary hypertension, which led to the pneumonia, and under that, COPD, which led to the pulmonary hypertension. And there is another section where you can put other health conditions that contributed to, but were not the cause of death.

I can only speculate, but I imagine the person filling it out was deliberately vague and left out every detail possible, out of respect for a very private man. Which is probably as it should be - no need for me or anyone else to know the details of his health.

----------

The fact he was dead 5 weeks after resigning as CEO shows this chairman thing was just a fancy title to stop stock from collapsing.

While I don't think that Apple did anything wrong the least they could have done was been more open and honest with Steve's condition, I certainly thought he was still actively working away from home and so did most people I would imagine which made his death last week all the more shocking, hell even Reuters were saying the day before that Steve would be at the 4S unveiling when most likely he was comatose at that stage.

Okay, (a) how incredibly selfish, and (b) even looking at it from a purely stock-based perspective, you're wrong. Apple's stock didn't budge with the surprise announcement of Jobs' death. It did go lower in the coming days with the rest of the market, but since then has rebounded and now is $21 higher per share than the day before he died.

 

[yg17]

THIS WILL PISS OFF MANY, I AM READY TO BE FLAMED...

western medicine has no answer for cancer. A big fat fail for the AMA when it comes to cancer.

Western, standard american diet (SAD) has more to do with acquiring "cancer" than any genetic or other reason. That, coupled with stress/emotional issues.

Cancer doctors are thieves, and they know it.

Read about Otto Warburg...............

Maybe if Mr Jobs HAD NOT LISTENED TO THE MEMBERS OF APPLE'S BOARD, AND NOT GONE AGAINST HIS OWN BELIEFS, AND HAD NOT GOTTEN THAT WHIPPLE PROCEDURE, he might still be here.

Also, cancer is used as a targeted weapon, sometimes.....

Too much new truth for most of you....so flame away!

My dad, who is in remission after receiving a western medicine treatment for prostate cancer would disagree with you

When you get cancer, you can do your voodoo medicine to try to cure it. When I get cancer, I'm seeing the best doctors I can find. We'll see which one of us survives.

 

[AaronEdwards]

Actually he lived much longer because of those "unorthodox" treatments. It's pretty much unheard of to live as long as he did with pancreatic cancer. That was a miracle quite frankly.

You're wrong. The type of pancreatic cancer he had has a much better prognosis if treated early. (And treated here means having an operation.)

Considering Jobs' access to the best care in the world, he most likely lived less than he should have. So, not a miracle. What ever he did between first being diagnosed and having an operation made the tumor grow. Now, I don't think he did nothing. Which would point towards "unorthodox" treatments.

A recent miracle was Ralph Steinman, one of this year's Nobel laureates in Medicine, who lived for four years with the other type of pancreatic cancer, the one that kills 50% within 10 months. The one you seem to think Jobs had.
But then Steinman didn't choose any "unorthodox" treatments. He choose science, and experimental trials, some which were based on his own research.
And thanks to that he almost got to experience being announced as a Nobel laureate.

 

[farmboy]

THIS WILL PISS OFF MANY, I AM READY TO BE FLAMED...

western medicine has no answer for cancer. A big fat fail for the AMA when it comes to cancer.

Western, standard american diet (SAD) has more to do with acquiring "cancer" than any genetic or other reason. That, coupled with stress/emotional issues.

Cancer doctors are thieves, and they know it.

Read about Otto Warburg...............

Maybe if Mr Jobs HAD NOT LISTENED TO THE MEMBERS OF APPLE'S BOARD, AND NOT GONE AGAINST HIS OWN BELIEFS, AND HAD NOT GOTTEN THAT WHIPPLE PROCEDURE, he might still be here.

Also, cancer is used as a targeted weapon, sometimes.....

Too much new truth for most of you....so flame away!

Briefly: nonsense. Cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide (per WHO), including in nations where non-western medicine is practiced, diet is different, and stress/emotional issues are different. Further, you have absolutely NO idea what Apple's board said, or what/why Jobs decided anything.

As far as weaponized cancer...uh OK....who exactly "infected" him (Google, Michael Dell, Samsung...?), and how did they deliver it into the pancreas--I'm pretty sure you would notice. Not to mention 8 years is a long time for a weapon to take effect.