Jimmy Carter Makes First Public Comments on Cancer Diagnosis

Jimmy Carter has revealed he is to be treated for cancerous tumors on the brain, in his first public comments on his illness on August 20.

The former president said he would start his radiation treatment later in the day.

Jimmy Carter, 90, was recently treated for liver cancer, after which it was discovered the disease had spread.

He said he would “cut back fairly dramatically” on public works.

“It is in the hands of God and I am prepared for anything that comes,” he said.

Democrat Jimmy Carter was a relative unknown in the US political world when he was elected president in 1976. He served from 1977 to 1981.

Jimmy Carter told a press conference on August 20 he had at first thought the cancer was confined to his liver and that an operation this month had completely removed it.

However,an MRI scan the same afternoon showed four spots of melanoma on the brain.

“I just thought I had a few weeks left, but I was surprisingly at ease. I’ve had a wonderful life,” he said.

“I have got thousands of friends and I have had an exciting and adventurous and gratifying existence.”

Jimmy Carter said it was likely doctors would find cancer elsewhere in his body as his treatment continued.

However, the former president said: “I feel very good. I have had no pain or debility.”

Since leaving the White House in 1981, Jimmy Carter has remained active, carrying out humanitarian work with his Carter Center in recent years.

Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.