Jimmy Carter: Melanoma has spread to brain

“I was surprisingly at ease”. The disease hasn’t affected his mood, as Jimmy said he’s “at ease” and that he’s ‘had a wonderful life’.

“I am ready for anything and looking forward to a new adventure”, Carter added. “Now I feel it’s in the hands of God, and I’ll be prepared for anything that comes”.

He said the generations of Carter family members will be visiting in the upcoming weeks.

“My grandfather is a remarkable person”. Carter’s grandson, Jason, will take over as chairman of the organization. He said Plains has been a “haven” for him and his family.

“There is a chance of cure”, even with tumors in the brain, said Dr. Mario Sznol, a melanoma specialist at Yale Cancer Center.

The cancer was “likely to show up in other places in my body” he said, without addressing whether doctors had told him how long he could expect to live.

Doctors at Emory University first discovered the cancer as a small mass on Carter’s liver. The cancer spots on his brain are about 2 millimeters in size.

He has also criticised Israel’s actions with respect to Palestine in a 2006 book “Palestine – Peace not Apartheid”, which attracted criticism from many elected leaders in his own Democratic party.

These were his first public remarks since his cancer diagnosis. “I’m going to cut back fairly dramatically on my obligations”, he said. “Side effects include achiness of joints and bones, fatigue and irritation”. It focuses beams precisely on tumors and avoids other areas of the brain and causes far fewer side effects than the whole-brain radiation common in the past.

But Carter is staying strong and is actually scheduled for his first radiation treatment later today!

“In many cases patients may have a significant response to these therapies, and in a smaller subset a prolonged response”, Raptis said.

“First time they’ve called me in a long time”, he joked, prompting some knowing laughter from those in the room. The ex-U.S. president was diagnosed with the disease but it’s hasn’t spread to his upbeat attitude.

We wish Jimmy the best!

There has been much speculation in the worldwide press about Carter’s health since the initial August 12 announcement he was battling cancer. Despite the diagnosis, Carter, 90, said he felt well and hadn’t experienced any weakness. A spokeswoman said he did not feel well and Carter later said he had a bad cold.

He and his wife have also worked with Habitat for Humanity since 1984, leading the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project. It’s hard not to believe that his post-presidential career has been driven in part by a deep desire to be vindicated, as he made clear on Thursday when he was asked if he wished he’d done anything differently in his life. Analysts and historians generally chalk up Carter’s loss to a lacklustre economy and the Iranian hostage crisis. And he played the seasoned politician when he deflected a political question about the latest Washington controversy to turn the discussion back to global health issues.

However, Carter said he still plans to teach Sunday School this weekend, as usual. “My last suggestion was that we add another helicopter, giving us two more than necessary”.

As Mr Carter continued working across the world, his reputation as a failed one-term president soon began to subside.