Teh One Who Knocks
09-18-2014, 11:47 AM
By Ashley Collman for MailOnline
http://i.imgur.com/AS2ih9a.jpg
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is battling a rare form of cancer, his doctor announced Wednesday.
The 45-year-old mayor, who gained notoriety last year when a video was released showing him smoking crack-cocaine, was hospitalized last week after complaining about a 'unbearable' pain in his abdomen.
Doctors at Mt Sinai discovered that the root of the pain was a 'fair sized' tumor.
Today, Ford's physician Dr Zane Cohen said the mayor would be undergoing chemotherapy to treat the tumor.
'It is a difficult and very rare type of tumor,' Dr Cohen said. 'It’s a fairly aggressive tumor.'
Last Friday, Ford announced that he could be facing 'the battle of my lifetime' and withdrew his name from his mayoral race. His brother Doug Ford is now running instead.
After dropping out of the mayoral race, Ford signed up to run as a councillor in Etobicoke. It's uncertain if he will continue in that race considering the latest diagnosis.
While Ford did not speak at the press conference on Wednesday, his brother Doug issued a statement on behalf of the family saying 'Rob will beat this'.
'Rob has always been so strong for all of us and now I ask us all to be strong for him,' Doug added.
Last week, Doug Ford said he wouldn't start campaigning for mayor until after today's announcement.
'I’ll be out there, I promise you,' he told the Globe and Mail last week. 'We’ve got five weeks and we’re going to be going hard. I just want to get over this little hurdle, and we’re going full steam ahead right now.'
The other leading candidates in the race, John Tory and Olivia Chow, were scheduled to debate this evening but that event has been cancelled '"out of respect for Mayor Ford and his family'.
Both Tory and Chow called Ford last week to give him their best wishes.
'I can’t imagine how difficult this must be for the Ford family,' Chow said Wednesday.
Ford took a two-month break from office this summer to undergo rehab for substance abuse issues, and returned to work in July.
Last November, Ford admitted to smoking crack-cocaine, but refused to step down from office.
Apparently, he had been experiencing abdominal pain for about three months prior to his hospitalization last week.
Ford's family has a history of cancer, too. His father, former Ontario MPP Doug Ford, Sr died of colon cancer in 2006. And in 2009, Ford himself had another tumor removed from his appendix.
http://i.imgur.com/AS2ih9a.jpg
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is battling a rare form of cancer, his doctor announced Wednesday.
The 45-year-old mayor, who gained notoriety last year when a video was released showing him smoking crack-cocaine, was hospitalized last week after complaining about a 'unbearable' pain in his abdomen.
Doctors at Mt Sinai discovered that the root of the pain was a 'fair sized' tumor.
Today, Ford's physician Dr Zane Cohen said the mayor would be undergoing chemotherapy to treat the tumor.
'It is a difficult and very rare type of tumor,' Dr Cohen said. 'It’s a fairly aggressive tumor.'
Last Friday, Ford announced that he could be facing 'the battle of my lifetime' and withdrew his name from his mayoral race. His brother Doug Ford is now running instead.
After dropping out of the mayoral race, Ford signed up to run as a councillor in Etobicoke. It's uncertain if he will continue in that race considering the latest diagnosis.
While Ford did not speak at the press conference on Wednesday, his brother Doug issued a statement on behalf of the family saying 'Rob will beat this'.
'Rob has always been so strong for all of us and now I ask us all to be strong for him,' Doug added.
Last week, Doug Ford said he wouldn't start campaigning for mayor until after today's announcement.
'I’ll be out there, I promise you,' he told the Globe and Mail last week. 'We’ve got five weeks and we’re going to be going hard. I just want to get over this little hurdle, and we’re going full steam ahead right now.'
The other leading candidates in the race, John Tory and Olivia Chow, were scheduled to debate this evening but that event has been cancelled '"out of respect for Mayor Ford and his family'.
Both Tory and Chow called Ford last week to give him their best wishes.
'I can’t imagine how difficult this must be for the Ford family,' Chow said Wednesday.
Ford took a two-month break from office this summer to undergo rehab for substance abuse issues, and returned to work in July.
Last November, Ford admitted to smoking crack-cocaine, but refused to step down from office.
Apparently, he had been experiencing abdominal pain for about three months prior to his hospitalization last week.
Ford's family has a history of cancer, too. His father, former Ontario MPP Doug Ford, Sr died of colon cancer in 2006. And in 2009, Ford himself had another tumor removed from his appendix.