CUPERTINO, Calif. — Steve Jobs, Apple’s late co-founder, regretted delaying potentially lifesaving surgery to treat his pancreatic cancer, his official biographer has revealed.
After the iconic CEO was first diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2004, Jobs decided to treat the disease with alternative medicine rather than surgery, Walter Isaacson said during an interview with “60 Minutes,” due to air Sunday on CBS.
Jobs chose to delay his surgery for nine months after the initial diagnosis. Some doctors have said that delaying the surgery may have ultimately cost Jobs his long-term health.
“I’ve asked [Jobs why he didn’t get an operation then] and he said, ‘I didn’t want my body to be opened … I didn’t want to be violated in that way,'” Isaacson said. “I think that he kind of felt that if you ignore something, if you don’t want something to exist, you can have magical thinking … I think he felt he should have been operated on sooner.”
Eventually, Jobs’ family and friends convinced the innovator to opt for surgery. But it is thought that, during the months Jobs delayed the surgery, the cancer had spread to surrounding tissues.
Isaacson’s book, “Steve Jobs,” is scheduled to come out next week.