Sen. Dodd Has Prostate Cancer, Will Have Surgery
Dodd said evidence of possible cancer was detected in June during his annual physical and later confirmed by a biopsy. He said he plans to have surgery at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York shortly after Congress adjourns next week and is “very confident were going to come out of this well.”
Dodd, with wife Jackie Clegg Dodd by his side, said he feels fine and expects to return to a full schedule at the end of August.
“Im running for re-election. Ill be a little leaner, a little meaner, but Im running,” Dodd told reporters, friends and supporters who gathered at his Hartford office.
He later quipped: “Ill be running without a prostate.”
The 65-year-old Democrat is chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and is playing a lead role in Congress attempt to overhaul the nations health care system. He said he will continue to be actively involved in those negotiations.
Dodd took that role while his close friend, Senate health committee Chairman Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts fights his own battle with brain cancer.
Dodd said he has kept his diagnosis quiet for weeks, consulting only with doctors and a few fellow senators who have had prostate cancer. He decided not to tell Kennedy until Thursday because of his own health problems.
Dodd said he also didnt inform some family members right away because his sister, Martha Dodd Buonanno, was suffering from lung cancer. She died July 6.
Dodd said he decided Thursday night to choose surgery over other treatment options.
Prostate cancer is the most common form of the disease in men in the United States, affecting about 6.4 out of every 100 men in Dodds age group, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. William K. Kelly, who heads the prostate and urologic cancers program at the Yale Cancer Center, said the prostate-removal surgery that Dodd is seeking shows the cancer is localized and has not spread.
“He should do very well,” Kelly said. “He should have a good recovery and should be very functional after several weeks.”
Dodd used the diagnosis to make a pitch for overhauling the nations health care system.
“For a person who loses health care coverage, that physical may not be something that you can afford,” he said. “Im fortunate as a member of Congress to have those benefits.”
In Washington, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said he didnt know if President Barack Obama had called Dodd upon learning about the cancer, but said he was likely to call later Friday.
Dodd is facing whats expected to be a tough re-election campaign. A poll last week showed him trailing former Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, 48 percent to 39 percent, and 52 percent of respondents disapproved of Dodds job performance.
Simmons said he and his wife Heidi extended their best wishes to Dodd.