 |
 |
 |
|
|
Olmert announcing his diagnosis
|
|
|
|
|
|
| By israelinsider staff and partners October 29, 2007 |
|
| |
 Bookmark to del.icio.us |
| |
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, in an address to the nation, announced Monday at noon local time that he has been diagnosed with stage T1 prostate cancer. Treatment of the illness, he said, will not require radiation or chemotherapy, adding that he expects to make a full recovery and would continue to serve in his current position.
Olmert said it was likely, though not certain, that he would undergo surgery to remove the tumor, but that should not interview significantly with his performance. "I will be able to fulfill duties fully before my treatment and hours afterward," Olmert said. "My doctors told me that I have full chances of recovery."
Olmert's physicians, Dr. Shlomo Segev and Dr. Kobi Ramon of the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, said that Olmert's tumor "is restricted to the prostate and is of no danger to him." The tumor, they said, was discovered in a routine checkup following Olmert's return from Russia. They added that the prime minister was not exhibiting symptoms.
Ramon, said that the prime minister has a limited growth that poses no short-term threat. He said treatment could wait several months without any risk and that surgery should
eliminate the cancer completely. The chances of full recovery are 95 percent, he said.
Olmert's doctors said that they had not made a final decision whether or not he should undergo surgery to remove the tumor. Should he undergo any medical procedure under full anesthesia, he would be declared temporarily unable to fulfill his duties.
In prostate cancer, semen-secreting prostate gland cells mutate into cancer cells. T1 is the least serious stage of the cancer, and indicates that the cells have not spread elsewhere in the body. Since the stroke and incapacitation of former PM Ariel Sharon, still in a vegetative stage, the public has demand more explicit information from political leaders concerning their health, as is routinely done in the US and other Western countries. |
|
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
|
