McCain Recovering After Cancer Surgery

Aug. 21 -- Arizona Sen. John McCain is out of thehospital and resting at home after a five-hour surgery at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix to remove skin cancer from his temple and upper arm.

Preliminary findings showed that the cancer has not spread toMcCain’s lymph nodes and that all melanoma was removed during Saturday’s surgery, said McCain’s internist, Dr. John Eckstein.

It will takeseveral days to fully evaluate test results from the removedtissue, but McCain’s doctors were “very optimistic” about hisfuture, he said.

“We are pleased to let you know the preliminary report on thelymph nodes … was clear without any evidence of melanoma cells,however it will take several days to fully evaluate the tissue,”Eckstein said.

The surgery followedtests that also found no signs that McCain’s melanoma, the most seriousform of skin cancer, had spread to other areas of his body.

Eckstein said McCain was almost back to his normal self.

“He is now talking straight again after general anesthesia andwhen I asked him if he wanted me to pass anything on, he said,‘Call [Senate Majority Leader ] Trent Lott. I know he’ll be on pins and needles,’” Ecksteinsaid.

McCain’s wife Cindy McCain, also said the senator woke up in good spirits.

“When I came in this morning he was joking as he does,” she told reporters. “He has kept all of us in stitches.”

McCain had a similar lesion removed from his shoulder in 1993.

So Far Good News

Tests on the lymph nodes that doctors removed will help determine whether surgery will be the finaltreatment. If the lymph nodes are clear, then the outlook for asurgical cure is excellent.

Some questions remain, however.

Doctors said Saturday that the melanoma is 2.2 millimeters. Most of the patients with cancer that deep are still alive after five years after surgery. Thicker cancersare more likely to spread through the bloodstream.