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The 39th president says he will cut back on his work and duties while undergoing treatment.

ATLANTA—

Former President Jimmy Carter described his cancer diagnosis Thursday in deeply personal and human detail, saying doctors found spots of melanoma on his brain and that his future “is in the hands of the God who I worship.”

“I think I’ve been as blessed as anyone in the world living to 91 years old (in October) … so I’m thankful and hopeful,” Carter said as he sat alone at a table during a press conference at the Carter Center in Atlanta. He added later, “I can’t really anticipate how I’ll be feeling. Obviously I’ll have to defer quite substantially to my doctors who are in charge of the treatment.”

He said he’ll get his first radiation treatment Thursday afternoon.

Carter, speaking slowly and softly and wearing a coat and tie with blue jeans, said he had been overwhelmed with phone calls of support — including outreach from Secretary of State John Kerry and former presidents George H. W. and George W. Bush, who called at once. Carter said he wasn’t in a lot of discomfort but had some shoulder pain.

Carter said in the immediate aftermath of the diagnosis, “I just thought I had a few weeks left (to live), but I was surprisingly at ease — much more so than my wife was.”

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

 

READ MORE: Fox8.com

Article Courtesy of CNN and WJW Fox 8 News Cleveland

Video Courtesy of C-SPAN and YouTube

Picture Courtesy of Getty Images

Former Jimmy Carter Speaks More on His Cancer Diagnosis  was originally published on wzakcleveland.com