When is the keynote going to be available to watch? Anyone know?
Let's not be unrealistic about all of this. No one wants Steve to be sick, but he is. He IS dying, and in a manner that is extremely unfortunate. Him being there at this point is all about posturing for the board and stock holders. That pretty much goes for anything he does these days.
I don't know what it is about people (in general), that makes us so afraid of our mortality, that we have to deny things like this and pretend that everything is always rainbows and puppy dogs. As crappy as Cancer or any other horrible disease is, it's a part of life and if we can't avoid it, we have to embrace it, so as to not get too hung up on it and move on.
I'm pretty sure that as a Buddhist, Steve's attitude isn't much different than that, but of course I can't speak for him.. He's a very strong willed man, and loves doing what he does as it keeps him going. No doubt he doesn't want to be sick, but I'm also sure that he's not spending his days in denial. I think it's actually really awesome that he decided to show his face, knowing how much it would mean to everybody, even if he realizes the trivialities of it all.
Doug
The fact is, he has pancreatic cancer.
I've worked in health care for a while
Actually, we don't know this at all. We know he HAD a rare form of pancreatic cancer, not the sure-to-kill-you common variety. The kind Steve had can be and is curable, though most survivors end up with other conditions (like severe diabetes) as a side effect of the treatment.
Not long enough to make these kinds of statements, I'd say.
I'm not saying Steve will live another 50 years, or even 10. I don't know. I'm just saying that your statement is factually inaccurate.
Here's some information for those people who are actually interested in the rare islet-cell neuroendocrine tumor Steve had. The short version is that the procedure used to save Steve's life back in 2004 can have serious complications associated with it, and it is these complications that may have caused the 2007 liver transplant to be needed and could be part of what he's dealing with now.
It is possible that the pancreatic cancer has returned -- but it's also quite likely it hasn't, and his problems are due to other factors.