Did Steve Jobs Have To Die?

Clearly, I don't have access to Jobs' medical records and this is all pure speculation. But there was an interesting article in this week's Newsweek by Sharon Begley that raises the issue that the treatments Jobs embarked on for his illness may have in fact hastened his demise.

Of course, in the comments section, Begley was roasted by Apple admirers. But she raises some excellent points, namely that having a liver transplant--or any kind of transplant for that matter--can hasten the return of cancers because of all the immune suppressing drugs you need to take. And one other piece of information that she didn't mention, but was in other news accounts, was that Jobs didn't immediately get surgery when he was diagnosed with neuroendocrine pancreactic cancer in 2004. He instead embarked on an alternative medicine program for nine months in hopes it would shrink his tumor and he wouldn't have to undergo the admittedly difficult Whipple surgery to remove his cancerous growth.

But to me, there is a distinct possibility that he signed his own death warrant right there. Nine months, as we medical writers know, is an eternity in the life of a cancer patient and an early diagnosis can truly mean the difference between life and death, or a complete cure and a lifetime of disability. While neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer sounds quite scary because of the association with the highly lethal pancreatic cancer, the fact is that this type of cancer is actually quite curable if caught early. Dr. Edward Wolin, who specializes in treating these types of tumors at Cedars-Sinai, has patients that have survived 20, 30 even 40 years. A friend's mother, who is now in her late eighties, had one of these tumors removed nearly eight years ago and she's still fine.

Just saying. . . Your thoughts??

Photo credit: Apple.com