Dodd undergoes surgery for prostate cancer
Associated Press Writer
Published: August 12, 2009
WASHINGTON—Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd underwent surgery for prostate cancer on Tuesday and was recuperating at a New York hospital.
Dr. Peter Scardino of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center said the surgery was successful and Dodd was resting comfortably.
“It is anticipated that he will be able to return to full activity within a few weeks,“ Scardino said in a statement released by Dodd’s office.
Dodd, 65, is expected to remain at the hospital for a few days before returning home to Connecticut.
The five-term Democrat announced last month that he had been diagnosed with an early, treatable stage of cancer. He expects to return to a full Senate schedule later this month after a few weeks of rest.
Dodd has said that the cancer will not affect his plans to seek a sixth term next year. He is chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and is playing a leading role as Congress seeks to overhaul the nation’s health care system.
He faces his toughest re-election fight in nearly 30 years in the Senate. Recent polls showed him trailing former GOP Rep. Rob Simmons.
The Senate ethics panel recently cleared Dodd of breaking rules by getting mortgages through a VIP program, but it scolded him for not being more careful to avoid the appearance of sweetheart deals from Countrywide Financial Corp. Dodd got his mortgages through a VIP program for those designated as “friends” of then-Countrywide chief executive Angelo Mozilo.
Despite the ethics panel finding, Dodd’s 2010 re-election bid has been hurt by the mortgage scandal. He has admitted he mishandled the allegations by waiting for several months before addressing them in detail.
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 Dodd’s age group, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Reader Reactions
I’m not sure where you get that information from, Thermo, but 65 is not even close to being “too old” for surgery. You should see some of the surgery that they do on people in their 90’s. It’s amazing. Especially since they caught it early.
If
1) The health care bill which he supports
2) He was part of this plan (which he won’t be because he and the other members of congress and the senate exempted themselves from participating in because he he only supports it for us and not him and his family)
the he never would have received this procedure because he is too old and it would not have been worth the cost based on his age.
The hyperactivity is amazing. His life and those in the Political Class are worth more than ours.
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