Posted on 03/09/2008 4:19:11 AM PDT by tobyhill
Along with his signature bright white hair, the most striking aspects of Senator John McCain’s physical appearance are his puffy left cheek and the scar that runs down the back of his neck.
The marks are cosmetic reminders of the melanoma surgery he underwent in August 2000. Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, sometimes tells audiences that he has “more scars than Frankenstein.”
The operation was performed mainly to determine whether the melanoma, a potentially fatal form of skin cancer, had spread from his left temple to a key lymph node in his neck; a preliminary pathology test at the time showed that it had not.
But because such a test cannot be definitive, the surgeons, with Mr. McCain’s advance permission, removed the surrounding lymph nodes and part of the parotid gland, which produces saliva, in the same operation, which lasted five and a half hours.
The final pathology analysis showed no evidence of spread of the melanoma, his staff said at the time. Mr. McCain, of Arizona, has said he did not need chemotherapy or radiation.
In 1999, during Mr. McCain’s first race for president, he gave the public an extraordinary look at his medical history — 1,500 pages of medical and psychiatric records that were amassed as part of a United States Navy project to gauge the health of former prisoners of war. This reporter, who is a physician, interviewed the senator’s doctors in 1999 with his permission.
But this time around, Mr. McCain has yet to make his full medical records or his physicians available to reporters. At least three times since March 2007, campaign officials have told The New York Times that they would provide the detailed information about his current state of health, but they have not done so.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
This disease is insidious. I know first hand. My first wife died a horrible death from this. I will keep my thoughts on this to myself.
I had a feeling the press was going to start in with this topic sooner or later. You can bet the Obama and/or Clinton camps (whichever one gets the nom) will exploit this issue during the campaign and try to portray McCain as an having one foot in the grave & unable to handle the rigors of being President.
It is a terrible disease and I’m sorry to hear about your wife. I’m sure she’s in loving hands.
This is a pathetic attempt by the Slimes to paint McCain as disease infested, unfit for duty and it won’t work. The prognosis for McCain has been positive and I bet he could kick Keller’s a*s. There’s plenty they can bash McCain with but his health or age aren’t one of them.
Well at least we disagree with McCain on REAL issues here on FR, and we have plenty of issues to disagree with him on. We don’t pick on him for his past health issues or other things like being tortured for YEARS that left him with scars. I always thought God preserved him through many perils because He had big plans for McCain. I just do not believe it is President of the US. I also do not believe Hillary or Obama are ready for that job either. I keep hoping someone else will show up before November. But I know that won’t happen, like when we ran Ford, and Dole.... sigh.... Get ready for very very HIGH TAXES. We will all have to find ways to hide our money. IF we have ANY left.
Sorry about your loss Shady.
Still waiting on the NY Times asking Hillary to disclose her White House records that are almost, just about coming, soon as soon as possible being released, BS coming from her campaign
That being said, McCain should fully disclose his current Cancer prognosis.
The most important job in the world needs to be someone who is as healthy as possible.
He’s released the reports before and there’s no reason he won’t release the info now. It will probably be a one liner, he’s in good health.
“He’s released the reports before and there’s no reason he won’t release the info now.”
If there’s no reason, then he should release the records. Otherwise, it looks like he’s got something to hide, and until he does, the press will continue to ask legitimate questions about his health.
While they’re at it, they should get Hillary or Obama, whichever one wins the nomination, to release his/her records, too.
Someone may show up in the form of VP for McCain. My father-in-law died of Melanoma in 1998 that spread to other vital organs, and started in his leg. So the VP will be very important for McCain. I am praying he will choose a true conservative, because we all know cancer is unpredictable.
The VP in 2008 will be key to our success.
“...he gave the public an extraordinary look at his medical history — 1,500 pages of medical and psychiatric records that were amassed as part of a United States Navy project to gauge the health of former prisoners of war.”
And not a peep from the NYT when Bill Clinton NEVER released his health records. Wonder if Hillary will.
Article:
But this time around, Mr. McCain has yet to make his full medical records or his physicians available to reporters.
I understand now. Slaps hand on forehead. More coffee
The NY Slimes wants some ammunition on McCain to smear him again and sow political whispering on his potential poor health.
McCain, the whoremonger didn't work, so now let's make people think he has cancer.
-That being said, McCain should fully disclose his current Cancer prognosis-
I am a melanoma survivor. I had it first as a mole on my cheek and then five years later in a lymph node in my neck. It was walnut sized and found by my dentist. Like McCain, I also had all the lymph nodes removed in the area and it had not spread.
The problem with your statement is that there is no prognosis. No Doctor will say to anyone that they are cancer free only that there is no detectable cancer. All of us, at some time or other have cancer. Usually it is dealt with by the body’s immune system. It is when it is not that we get in trouble.
So there is not one person alive that can give a definitive cancer prognosis other than there is no detectable cancer. That was given and that is enough.
He told the Slimes he would release the records in April so for them to run this article now is nothing but a lame attempt to insinuate he’s hiding his health. The Slimes claims they asked all through ‘07 but he wasn’t expected to be the GOP nominee in ‘07.
Our Troops deserve a qualified Commander in Chief:
I agree with you. Apparently, McCain has had other melanomas (or so I read somewhere), which were removed without further treatment because they were caught early. He gets regular screenings, naturally. Melanoma is horrible, but if it’s just a one-time thing and is caught in time, it’s not a problem; recurrent melanoma, which McCain has, is a serious problem, and sooner or later, it probably will get him.
Thinking nobody was going to mention this is just another example of McCain’s arrogance. I think his VP would have a genuine chance of being president, and I agree that this choice is extremely important. (Pleeeeze, not Charlie Crist!!!)
Congrads on being a survivor. A friend of mine has been fighting this for years.
I agree. I was just reading http://www.jonchristianryter.com and his article in The Ryter Report on Mar 3, 2008 called ‘the Plastic Lifeline’, and he is right on. You may find it an interesting article about what we need to do. Now whether the repubs can get fired up is the question. I have not felt any political fire on this website compared to 2000 or even 2004. If we don’t soon get some, then I fear the worst for America. We can not pout or whine, or we will lose more than an election, we will lose our way of life.
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