Ron Wyden Cancer Surgery Endangers Democrats' Lame-Duck Wish List

Senator Wyden does NOT have to rush into prostate cancer surgery at the age of 61. He should learn everything about this disease before he subjects himself to a very difficult surgery that results in serious side effects. Women talk about cancer. Men are silent and just follow the doctor's every word. Postpone the surgery and vote for START. You will be doing yourself a favor.

Good luck with the surgery senator, and take a few weeks off to be certain you've healed properly! Besides there are plenty of your anti-defense, pro capitulation colleagues left to vote to weaken our defenses!

Good grief! The man is a human being, first, a politician second. That your first thought upon hearing that the man has early-stage cancer and will seek immediate treatment was that it will hinder the passage of a Bill, Is a pathetic example of the exploitative nature of political journalism. Learning that you have cancer that is in the early stage and electing to act quickly to undergo treatment, gets a person's full attention. If you should face the same circumstances, please do not feel as if you must publish your column everyday. You are not as important as you may think.

Maybe the bigger story is the lack of attention that prostate cancer gets. Hopefully the Senator will now help that effort. He should be okay, but he will have afteraffects which will require therapy, which the medical community has not given as much attention to as is warranted by the number of cases of this cancer every year. Its the third biggest cancer in numbers and it hardly gets any attention. The health care bill mentions breast cancer 40 times and never once mentions prostate cancer.

A week or month or even six months delay in the surgery will have little if any effect on prognosis.

too bad...I wonder if he has decent health insurance? I hope he has the health insurance I have...which is none because my husband's company went bankrupt thanks to congressional legislation.

Take care of your self senator, there will always be some controversy or other going on in Washington.

It is what it is. Political expediency aside, I think anyone facing such a challenge would take the time for themselves to do what is right for their health and their family. I think this guy is a failure as a Senmator, but on a human level, I hope he does well and beats the odds.

Early-stage prostate cancer does not require immediate surgery. There's something else they're not telling us. Otherwise he could wait for the recess and have it then.

Johns Hopkins has the nation's highest cure rate for prostate surgery; Sen. Wyden will have a very good chance for a complete recovery.