Former President Jimmy Carter says cancer that first was discovered as a tumor on his liver also is on his brain, and he will undergo radiation treatment.
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Carter said he felt good, with only slight pain after the liver surgery. He was scheduled to begin radiation treatment later in the day.
Carter, speaking at an Atlanta news conference, also said he would receive his first radiation treatment later Thursday. “I was just completely at ease”.
Initially after receiving the brain cancer diagnosis, Carter said, “I thought I had just a few weeks left”, but he added that he remained “hopeful”. “I’ve had a wonderful life and many friends”. Now win or lose he is embracing his next battle with a smile, God given grace and peace.
Because of this unusual family history – only a few other families worldwide appear to have this same genetic defect, possibly triggered by smoking cigarettes – Carter has been tested regularly for possible symptoms for many years now.
Former President Jimmy Carter announced that his doctors have found four small melanoma lesions in his brain. He noted that he doesn’t expect cancer treatment to halt his usual contributions to his place of worship, Maranatha Baptist Church. His mother had breast cancer, which later spread to her pancreas.
Not long ago, a diagnosis of melanoma might well have been a death sentence for Jimmy Carter.
The announcement triggered many to take a position that the previous president had pancreatic most cancers, which killed his father, each sisters and a brother. But spread to the liver and the brain is not uncommon after a tumour that starts in skin, several cancer specialists said.
Each of the spots is very small, “about two millimeters”, Carter said.
The former president said Thursday that doctors will continue scanning other parts of his body to determine whether the disease has spread further. “Patients may go on and have a complete response” to treatment.
He said he’s received calls of support from President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, former Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and current Presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“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.
Carter, who will turn 91 in October, has largely been in good health through his old age, traveling extensively for nonprofit work around the world.
The 90-year-old said physicians were first alerted in May when he was fighting a cold and cut short an election-monitoring trip to Guyana. Carter is known for having an abiding Christian faith. If only he had sent an extra helicopter during the attempted hostage rescue in Iran in 1979. Ronald Reagan succeeded him in 1980 after a landslide victory, and Mr Carter founded the Carter Centre in 1982 to focus on global health care and democracy. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, helped defuse nuclear tensions in the Koreas and helped avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti.
However, Carter said he still plans to teach Sunday School this weekend, as usual. “I’m looking forward to a new adventure”.
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He called his work with the Carter Center “personally more gratifying” than his presidency, though he joked that he wished he might have been able to serve a second term and then engage in humanitarian work after leaving the White House.
