AP: McCain appears cancer-free, healthy

[BlueStater]

Source: Associated Press

By LAURAN NEERGAARD and LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writers
1 minute ago

FOUNTAIN HILLS, Ariz. - Three-time melanoma survivor John McCain appears cancer-free, has a strong heart and is in otherwise general good health, according to eight years of medical records reviewed by The Associated Press.

The Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting remains at risk for developing new skin cancers, and gets a thorough check by a Mayo Clinic dermatologist every few months.

"I do not see any worrisome lesions," Dr. Suzanne Connolly concluded after McCain's most recent exam, on May 12.

The details of McCain's health are contained in 1,173 pages of medical documents spanning 2000 to 2008 that his campaign made available to the AP to make the case that he's healthy enough to serve as president, as well as to counter the notion that he's too old. The Arizona senator will turn 72 in August and would be the oldest elected president.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080523/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_health

---

Good health how? Because his lungs still work?

[fasttense]

1. Yeah right, Just like Reagan during his last years in office, perfectly healthy.

[SpiralHawk]

2. Did they look under the hood?

[izzie]

3. Being his age and not a thing wrong with me I will tell you I do

not have the get up and go I had 10 years ago and for get my young years. I think he is just to old to do this job.

[rateyes]

4. What about his Psych Profile? nt

[annabanana]

23. They're not releasing that part.. . . .n/t

[eringer]

5. Yeah, the Manchurian Candidate is ready to assume command

Here is the story on what is left inside of McBush's head:

U.S. Veteran Dispatch
By Ted Sampley
March, 2008
For years, the mainstream news media has refused to stop idolizing the so-called straight talking maverick John McCain long enough to question the mental health consequences of the years he spent as a "special" prisoner of the communists in North Vietnam.

McCain, the presumptive Republican candidate for President, who could one day have his finger on the "red button," claims the communists subjected him to 5 ½ years of nonstop indoctrination sessions so intense that he attempted suicide.

Unfortunately for McCain, after his bomber was hit by anti-aircraft fire near Hanoi on October 26, 1967, he parachuted into the hands of an evil communist enemy who 7 years earlier had adopted Soviet methods of prisoner interrogation.

At that time, the Soviets were perfecting techniques designed "to put a man's mind into a fog so that he will mistake what is true for what is untrue, what is right for what is wrong, and come to believe what did not happen actually had happened."

see the remainder of the article at:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com/&h=299&w=392&sz=22&hl=en&start=3&um=1&tbnid=lTtItPXrn3i2HM:&tbnh=94&tbnw=123&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmanchurian%2Bcandidate%2Bmccain%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

[madame defarge]

11. Exactly.

I'm not worried about his melanoma. I'm worried about his mental state. Anyone who spends 5 1/2 years as a POW is going to have mental issues. And we want that person with his finger near the red button?

[mitchum]

6. And he's a whiz at solitaire!

[CanonRay]

7. How can anyone read 1173 pages in three hours?

[annabanana]

21. It's 11am East Coast right now.... 8am in Phoenix... (ONE HOUR) . . . N/T

[Ian David]

8. AP: McCain appears cancer-free, (physically) healthy n/t

[AngryOldDem]

9. More details on his health

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/23/mccain-is-cancer-free-say-newly-released-medical-records/#more-7309

<<McCain's most recent exams show a range of health issues common in aging: He frequently has precancerous skin lesions removed, and in February had an early stage squamous cell carcinoma, an easily cured skin cancer, removed. He had benign colon growths called polyps taken out during a routine colonoscopy in March.

The Vietnam veteran has degenerative arthritis from war injuries that might mean a future joint replacement. His blood pressure and weight were healthy, and his cholesterol good but not optimal — and he switched medication from the controversial Vytorin that made headlines this past winter to a proven standby, simvastatin.<<

CNN also said his cholesterol was OK. Not optimum, but passable, and that he passed a cardiac stress test a few months back as well.

Sounds like typical health concerns for someone in his early '70s, and while I don't mean to sound ageist, I think mental acuity tests and other psychological information should be released as well. It IS our business to know how physically (and mentally) fit he is.

[DrRang]

25. Melanoma is tricky--new ones aren't the problem.

Been there, done that. Melanoma is a spooky, flukey, unpredictable type of cancer. It's notorious for coming back in devastating form after a long remission, sometimes as long as 20 years. The saying goes, it's always the first melanoma that kills you, referring to the fact that most people that have been diagnosed thereafter are so obsessive about checking for new growths that they catch any subsequent melanomas at a very early stage.

The very worst statistical chances are for older men whose original tumors were on the head or neck, partly because the lymph drainage is so complicated in those areas. McCain apparently had a sentinel node biopsy, which was reported as free of malignant cells. That's very a strong plus, but it's not a definite guarantee.

I sincerely hope that John McCain doesn't have a recurrence. Really. But I don't see any way that a handful of reporters can look at 1700+ pages in three hours and come away with any real sense of what his chances are.

[NWHarkness]

10. I call bullshit

The records were nor "released". A small group of reporters, chosen by the McCain campaign, were allowed to look at them behind closed doors, and forbidden from making copies. And after less than an hour and a half, they announce he's in the clear?

Who exactly is supposed to think this is on the up and up?

[annabanana]

27. Wait... the records were going to be reviewed in Phoenix, right?

That means they're available from 10am - 1pm eastern time.. am I wrong?

[dipsydoodle]

12. He is a cancer

.

[gtar100]

13. Surprise, surprise. Would they tell you any different?

I don't know the state of McCain's health. And because the MSM threw their integrity out the window with Bush, I have no reason to believe them now.

[thereismore]

14. "has a strong heart" means he is OLD. nt

[KSinTX]

15. A strong heart, but a miserably cruel one. nt

[Mudoria]

16. Not really

[KSinTX]

18. Really

Sen. John McCain is leading the charge against so-called "torture" techniques allegedly used by U.S. interrogators, insisting that practices like sleep deprivation and withholding medical attention are not only brutal - they simply don't work to persuade terrorist suspects to give accurate information.

Nearly forty years ago, however - when McCain was held captive in a North Vietnamese prison camp - some of the same techniques were used on him.
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/11/29/100012.shtml

Feb. 13, 2008

When confronted today with the decision of whether to stick with his conscience or cave to the right wing, McCain chose to ditch his principles and instead vote to preserve waterboarding:

Mr. McCain, a former prisoner of war, has consistently voiced opposition to waterboarding and other methods that critics say is a form torture. But the Republicans, confident of a White House veto, did not mount the challenge. Mr. McCain voted “no” on Wednesday afternoon.
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/13/mccain-waterboarding-fail/

[neutralindividual]

17. Is it me or you guys are upset that McCain is healthy?

He would be a bad president, IMO, but I don't wish illness to anyone.

[annabanana]

22. AP is lying... his records will only be available from 7-10am Phoenix time

and there are over 1,000 pages of medical records....

They've been thumbing through them for only one hour

[bluestateresident]

28. AP reviewed the records on Thursday (yesterday)

This time, the AP examined the documents over several hours Thursday in a conference room of a resort just outside of Phoenix...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/23/AR2008052300565_2.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2008052300934

[BearSquirrel2]

19. He appears to be a dottard old puppet ...

... i am more concerned with who his puppet masters are.

[annabanana]

20. They can say this after ONE HOUR of looking??

:bluebox: only a small, select group of reporters will have access to the records in a secure room in Phoenix, AZ
:bluebox: access is limited to only three hours, between 7 and 10 AM on Friday
:bluebox:no copying of the records is permitted
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/22/122053/300/...

That's between 7 and 10 AM... PHOENIX TIME.... (same as California)

[bluestateresident]

29. AP reviewed the records for several hours

This time, the AP examined the documents over several hours Thursday in a conference room of a resort just outside of Phoenix...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/23/AR2008052300565_2.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2008052300934

[Lone_Star_Dem]

24. This is what I like to hear. Strong health in a weak candidate

Stay healthy Senator McCain. We're depending on you to go up against our much stronger candidate in November. :patriot:

[Javaman]

26. why did it take so long for them to release his records?

probably had to scrub the VD he contracted in viet nam.

[wmbrew0206]

32. Dude, I hope you are joking there

I think McCain would be terrible, but the only time McCain, as a carrier based pilot, would have been able to catch a VD in Vietnam would have been while he was in a POW camp. So you are suggesting McCain was forcibly raped while a POW.

That is just not funny.

[Javaman]

33. do I really need to put the sarcasm icon at this point? come on, give me a little credit. lol nt

[PATRICK]

30. When Fred Thompson stopped

appearing healthy he actually admitted 'recently' finding out he was dying. This is all very reassuring to Bushistas who will want to replace him without having to run their real noxious choice(who will move up into the VP slot after the stooge VP appoints him) even in a rigged election.

The dog and pony show of McCain's VP choice after a stormy convention will only be a news surprise if it isn't an obvious Bush stooge.

Not Dead Yet. McCain remains a vigorous and undead contender for the temporary spot of President and button pusher and dirty job scapegoat.

[llmart]

31. That's good news.......

now he can go sit on his porch in his rocker where he belongs with his pal Dumbya. They can eat cake together too. Healthy or not healthy, our country does not need the likes of him in office.

[GoldenOldie]

34. If he is so healthy then why the 100% Military disability???

When the severly wounded Iraq/Afghan veterans are fighting simply to obtain medical care and get a crappy 10%. POW John McCain went to a 100% disability yet at the age of 70+ still has the capacity to walk the towns of Iraq, walk the halls of Congress, campaign non-stop while at the same time flipping off the needs of fellow veterans. What an asshole!