New questions about McCain's melanoma

New questions about McCain's melanoma

www.sfgate.com

Sen. John McCain, 71, is in excellent health and shows no evidence of the recurrence of the melanoma skin cancer that led to extensive head and neck surgery in 2000, McCain's doctors said Friday.

McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has kidney stones and takes medication to reduce his cholesterol but otherwise has a strong heart and is in good shape, the doctors said.

"At the present time, Sen. McCain enjoys excellent health and displays extraordinary energy,"...

... But buried in 1,173 pages of medical records that McCain's campaign released before the conference call was something not previously made public: Two pathologists at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology who examined the melanoma specimen from McCain's left temple in 2000 suggested there were two melanomas on his temple, not one, as his doctors had said publicly at the time.

McCain's campaign and doctors did not respond Friday to a request for clarification of the Armed Forces pathology report and the classification of the melanoma. But two experts in the field who reviewed the report said it was unclear whether the melanoma on McCain's temple had metastasized from another, or whether there was one new primary melanoma.

If the spread was through the nearby melanoma, then there is greater risk to McCain than the public has been led to believe, said Dr. Lynn Schuchter, a melanoma expert at the University of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Mohammed Kashani-Sabet, director of the Melanoma Center at UC San Francisco.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Melanoma can be some nasty stuff.

There was a woman here in Roanoke who rode the same bus I do for a long time... she had melanoma and when I first noticed it, it was a dark spot on her temple... she was a Christian Scientist (if I recall correctly) and so it went untreated and by the time it killed her it had eaten off a quarter of her face.


www.sfgate.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Originally posted by grover
...she had melanoma and when I first noticed it, it was a dark spot on her temple... she was a Christian Scientist (if I recall correctly) and so it went untreated and by the time it killed her it had eaten off a quarter of her face.

Oh NOES! What if it spread........






.....into something like this?





Really sorry for that, I just could not resist.

It wasn't funny the poor woman lost an eye and the whole section of her face around it down, it looked like to the bone.

She never made an effort to cover it up and towards the end I had to avert my eyes whenever I saw her... it was just too much.

reply to post by grover


Would McCain's melanoma prevent you from voting for him? Even if you believed in his campaign and agree with him on the issues that are important to you? Do you think that many republicans would think it is safer to vote for a democrat with good health than a republican who might not live through his 4 years?

I just don't see how McCain's health is going to sway anyone one way or the other. Surely McCain's VP will be closer aligned to where he stands on the issues than Obama, if McCain was unable to finish out his presidency.

Well I wouldn't vote for McCain period.

But at his age... who he choses for a running mate is going to more important than most.

Let's just pray he doesn't chose cheney the dick.

[edit on 26-5-2008 by grover]

Sorry Grover, I was not poking fun at the woman in any way, it was just that the story made me think about that picture.

I've had a malignant melonoma taken off my back. I know what a scare that was for me, and I have nothing but respect for anyone who has had to endure the later stages of the disease.

reply to post by grover


I kind of assumed that you wouldn't be voting for him, neither am I for that matter. Would you let it sway your opinion of your chosen candidate though, if they were in the same shoes? I wouldn't.

I am still leaning towards Ron Paul. He is old as well, and if he had melanoma I wouldn't even consider changing to McCain or Obama. His stance on the issues just don't line up with another candidate. So I would much rather hope the cancer doesn't come back, instead of settling for a candidate I don't agree with.

reply to post by SystemiK


I have had a couple scares myself... My mother has to large brown spots on her face that have been growing for a few years now but her doctor keeps insisting that its nothing, still, after that woman, I worry every time I see her.

As for McCain... If he had an aggressive melanoma, it is important because the treatments (chemo and radiation) and medications (for pain) could potentially keep him from doing his job.

Did anyone really think that the medical notes that would be released would be complete and thruthfull? Especially if there was anything that could be viewed as negative?

Even comments like "extrordinary energy" from McCain's doc, how often does a doc say words like that unless they are trying to make someone out to be something they are not?

I believe it's in the docs best interests to give McCain a clean bill of health for the public.

Anyone who disagrees, well sue me for saying it on a conspiracy thread!

CX.


[edit on 26/5/08 by CX]

Well the comment about his melanoma was in the report... just buried.

Politicians hiding health issues is a time honored tradition. FDR wouldn't allow himself to be photoed in a wheelchair and Kennedy hid the fact he wore a back brace.

In a rare act of honesty though, bush minor has never hid the fact the he has no brains.

[edit on 26-5-2008 by grover]

Probably more than anything this is only being brought up by detractors to weaken his public opinion. I doubt that any "sympathy" vote would include skin cancer.

jon McPain has wayyyy too many complications. he's sick with kidney stones, sores & melanoma. reason he shouldn't be president. he's too old to run this messed up country. I admire the fact that he was a war hero and all, but he should step down and let Clinton take over. She looks healthier than him. I wish McPain well, but he's too old and too angry at the world to make a good president.