Internet is abuzz with the rumour that
Apple CEO
Steve Jobs may have only six weeks to live. US-based tabloid
National Enquirer claims to be publishing photos of Jobs taken on February 8 outside Stanford Cancer Center that show the Apple founder looking extremely thin and frail.
According to various media reports, in the photos, an extremely "skeletal-looking" Jobs can be seen getting out of his car at the center, just one day after he was spotted at work on Apple's Cupertino campus.
In January, fifty-five-year-old Jobs took third medical leave from Apple in seven years. Apple founder Jobs is suffering from pancreatic cancer. The CEO, 55, has been regularly attending the cancer treatment center, RadarOnline.com confirmed.
The Enquirer is reported to have interviewed critical-care physician Dr Samuel Jacobson who viewed the photos and said the Jobs appeared "close to terminal."
"I would say he has six weeks," Jacobson reportedly said.
Dr Gabe Mirkin a physician with supposedly 40 years of experience told the tabloid, "He is terminal. What you are seeing is extreme muscle wasting from calorie depravation, most likely caused by cancer. He has no muscle left in his buttocks, which is the last place to go."
"He definitely appears to be in the terminal stages of his life from these photos. I would be surprised if he weighed more than 130lb," Mirkin reportedly told the tabloid.
Jobs' battle with cancer started in 2004 and he reportedly went to
Switzerland in 2009 to undergo a rare radiology treatment.
Earlier,
Wall Street Journal reported that Jobs also had a secret liver transplant in
Memphis.
Jobs announced his medical leave in January in an email to employees, explaining that "the board of directors has granted me a medical leave of absence so I can focus on my health."
"I will continue as CEO and be involved in major strategic decisions for the company," Jobs added.
Interestingly, there are also reports quoting US officials that President
Barack Obama will meet ailing Apple chief Steve Jobs and other US high-tech gurus in
California on Thursday
!