Carter being treated for cancer
WASHINGTON—Jimmy Carter, the former US president turned Nobel peace laureate and global humanitarian, revealed on Thursday he has cancer on his brain but said he feels at peace and grateful for having lived a full life.
Carter, 90, told a press conference that four small melanoma spots on his brain were detected after a tumor was removed from his liver this month. The 39th president said he would begin radiation treatment on Thursday afternoon.
The former Democratic president (197781) sounded serene and in high spirits as he discussed his illness. He smiled often and joked with reporters. He said he feels well and does not suffer from weakness or pain. He plans to carry on teaching Sunday school, and hopes doctors will let him go ahead with plans to travel to Nepal with Habitat for Humanity later this year. Carter said he has received calls from President Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and both former presidents Bush.
Carter said that after doctors diagnosed the cancer, he initially thought he was quickly nearing death, yet remained calm. “You know, I have had a wonderful life. I have got thousands of friends and I have had an exciting and adventurous and gratifying existence,” Carter said. Carter received the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to promote social and economic justice.
“So I was surprisingly at ease, much more so than my wife was, but now I feel, you know, it’s in the hands of God,” Carter said.
Brokering a peace deal between Israel and Egypt, the Camp David accords signed in 1978 is now recognized as the zenith of his presidency.