In a letter addressed to the Apple community, Jobs said that not being the one to deliver the keynote at Macworld has given him the chance to spend the holiday season with his family. The unfortunate aspect of all this was the beginning of a new round of rumors regarding his health condition, some of which have portrayed him as being on his deathbed.

 

All the assumptions about the cancer recurrence or him not being able to fulfill his Apple role anymore have been fueled not only by his decision not to deliver the keynote address at Macworld on such a short notice, but also by his obvious weight loss throughout last year.

 

Jobs responded to this last aspect, saying that after thorough investigations, his doctors found a hormone imbalance that ‘robbed’ him of his proteins to be the cause of his weight loss. Furthermore, he went on explaining that he has already begun a treatment for his nutritional problem, and he should be back on his feet until late spring.

 

That however doesn’t mean he won’t be able to fulfill his Apple duties in the meantime, Jobs noted. Addressing his Board of Directors, Jobs said he will be the first one to inform them if he cannot continue to perform his duties the moment that happens.

 

“I have given more than my all to Apple for the past 11 years now,” Jobs wrote, “I hope the Apple community will support me in my recovery and know that I will always put what is best for Apple first.”

 

Oddly enough, his decision to step up and talk about his health condition was not enough to stop the rumors. On the contrary, it got everyone even more curious, since his “hormone imbalance” is an explanation far too vague to put all uncertainties at rest.

 

Medical specialists found it hard to isolate the reason for his hormone imbalance, which could have multiple causes, including the cancer recurrence everyone’s been talking about.

 

In 2004, Steve Jobs admitted to having pancreatic cancer, a condition for which he underwent a surgical procedure that same year. Fortunately for him, his type of tumor was not the most aggressive and deadly manifestation of pancreatic cancer, and was discovered early.

 

But, four years later, his obvious weight loss gives the public two scenarios to think of. One of them is that the weight loss is related to cancer, which is clinically possible, while the other one is that Jobs is indeed suffering from a hormone condition that he will be able to recover from within months.

 

Apple representatives have not been willing to discuss the matter further than Jobs did in his letter. For the time being, the Board of Directors seems to be satisfied with his explanation, which means we haven’t seen the last of Jobs at Apple.