Former Nevada Sen. Harry Reid is recovering after undergoing surgery Monday for pancreatic cancer.
Former Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., was recovering after undergoing surgery Monday at Johns Hopkins Cancer Center in Baltimore to remove a cancerous tumor from his pancreas.
Reid, 78, will undergo chemotherapy, according to a statement released Monday by his family.
« His doctors caught the problem early during a routine screening and his surgeons are confident that the surgery was a success and that the prognosis for his recovery is good, » the statement said.
The former Senate Democratic leader declined to seek re-election in 2016 after more than three decades in Congress. A 2015 accident left him blind in one eye.
A former boxer who grew up poor in the small town of Searchlight, Nevada, Reid rose to the one of the most powerful positions in American politics as Nevada’s longest-serving senator.
He helped propel the passage of President Barack Obama’s signature health care law and blocked the development of a nuclear waste dump in Nevada. He was also a champion of his home state’s gaming and tourism industry and built up a well-organized Democratic machine in Nevada.
Well-wishers from both parties — including some former Republican opponents in Congress — released statements of support for Reid Monday.
Republican Sen. John McCain tweeted, « From one cantankerous senator to another, sending my prayers & best wishes to @SenatorReid as he recovers from a successful surgery. »
Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, who was recruited by Reid to replace him, wished him a speedy recovery.
« Senator Reid is no stranger to a fight. He beat his opponents in the boxing ring, took on the mob in Nevada, and moved bills in the Senate that no one believed could be done. He’ll beat cancer too, » she said in a statement.
His former congressional rival, John Boehner, tweeted prayers for Reid, writing: « You’re a fighter, Harry. You can whip this. »
Reid and Boehner are working on creating a public policy think tank at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, focusing on policy issues that affect the tourism, hospitality and gambling industries.
