Monday, September 19, 2005

Chuck Strahl MP




From Chad Sketon of the Vacouver Sun, via Neale News, more sad news about Conservative MP Chuck Strahl.

CHILLIWACK - Conservative MP Chuck Strahl says he plans to be back in Ottawa for the opening of Parliament next week, despite recently being told by his doctors that a life-threatening form of cancer discovered in the lining of one lung is also present in the second.

"I'm feeling good and I'm back at work and I hope to be at work for a long, long time," Strahl, who represents Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon, said Sunday. "It's kind of business as usual for me."

In late August, Strahl, 48, announced that he had been diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare form of lung cancer linked to the inhalation of asbestos
fibres.
Strahl believes he may have inhaled asbestos while working as a
logger in his early 20s.

Doctors discovered the cancer in Strahl's other lung after investigating it with a scope two weeks ago. The discovery of the cancer in his second lung does not mean the cancer has spread, said Strahl, only that doctors have now found it. The average survival time for mesothelioma is about a year, but some people have lived with it for five years or more.

Lung cancer is a particularly nasty business and Mr. Strahl is a very able member of parliament with much still to contribute to the public good. I pray he gets well.

I admire his courage.

2 Comments:

At 7:18 pm, September 23, 2005 , Blogger NotClauswitz said...

God bless and good luck to him! There's some pretty good work going on at Stanford utilising cyberknife therapy (among others) to treat mesothelioma.

 
At 4:43 am, September 26, 2005 , Blogger Candace said...

My father (74) has asbestosis, the precursor to asbestos-related lung cancer; he was diagnosed over 5 years ago with a "when it hits, it will hit hard and fast" prognosis.

I must admit it's an easier pill to swallow when the life has been fully-led.

My thoughts & prayers are with Mr. Strahl & his family.

 

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