Doctors told Carter they had completely removed cancer from his liver during surgery on August 3, but an MRI exam that same afternoon showed the spots on his brain.
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Carter said that as his treatment continues, it is likely doctors will find cancer elsewhere in his body.
“So far, the only place they’ve known about cancer has been my liver and my brain”, he said.
So it was sad to hear Carter announce this week that he’s battling cancer that has spread to his brain and, at the same time, impressive to listen to him talk with such equanimity about his circumstances.
Ribas, who is not involved in treating the former president, said patients who benefited from the drug “responded immediately, ” with some tumors shrinking or vanishing in a matter of weeks.
The former Democratic president sounded serene and in high spirits as he discussed his illness. He joked with reporters and smiled often, his Georgia drawl still pronounced as he spoke.
But Carter’s team of doctors at Emory Healthcare have said that the focus is not on curing his cancer, but on improving his quality of life.
“We’ve made enough progress that we’re exceeding expectations in many groups of patients as to how long they will live”, said Dr. Curran. “But now I feel, you know, it’s in the hands of God and my worship, and I’ll be prepared for it when it comes”.
“Five years ago, we would have given him [Carter] six months to live”, said Dr. Anna Pavlick, co-director of the melanoma program at NYU Langone Medical Center’s cancer center.
Geary said Carter was clearly not at ease having to cut back on his work at the Carter Center, where for decades he has helped to eradicate disease while also creating peace and democracy throughout the world.
“I’ve had thousands of friends, I’ve had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence”, said Carter, 90.
The former president also announced his grandson, former state senator and gubernatorial candidate, Jason Carter, will soon take the helm. After additional testing, doctors detected four spots of melanoma on his brain.
The 90-year-old, who was president from 1977-81, said that a tumour on his liver proved to be melanoma, which is typically a skin cancer. His brother, father and two sisters all died of pancreatic cancer, and his mother had breast cancer that later moved to her pancreas.
Hospital in Mineola, New York.
“I wish I had sent in one more helicopter to rescue the hostages” in Iran, he said.
Jimmy Carter has aged well. “What we’re seeing in some types of cancer which may not be curable is long-term life with a good quality of life”. “There’s this old gospel song we were just talking about that says ‘I’m going to stay on the battlefield, ‘ and that’s always the way that he’s approached his life”.
Carter has a large family, with 12 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren, and he said all will be encouraged to undergo cancer screening.
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Brokering a peace deal between Israel and Egypt – the Camp David accords signed in 1978 – is now recognized as the zenith of his presidency and a major diplomatic triumph.
