Debbie Wasserman Shultz had breast cancer surgery and kept it private during .......

[Stinky The Clown]

.... the presidential campaign.

Matthews just announced this on Hairballz. She will be his guest after the 0:30 break.

[lamp_shade]

1. My eyes started burning as he was talking about her.

[Towlie]

2. She's on Tweety's show right now.

[LSparkle]

3. Absolutely amazing ... she was EVERYWHERE supporting Hillary ...

How in the heck did she manage to get through 7 surgeries
during all of that hoopla?

I had tremendous respect for her before but now ... I'm
just speechless.

[Stinky The Clown]

4. Bravery

Bravery is the face of women who have to face this down.

[Berry Cool]

17. Her hiding it was brave. What she did to fight it (to some extent) is brave

because she made some tough decisions others would not have made.

Otherwise, it's not bravery in general to face down a disease. You get it, you face it down. What's the alternative?

[kimmerspixelated]

5. Well, maybe it's because being ill is private.

[Stinky The Clown]

6. Not sure what you mean

?

[Tangerine LaBamba]

7. Amen to that ............

She did what she had to do to take care of herself, protect her family, and when the time was right, she went public.

Did a whole hell of a lot more good that way than bleating it out as soon as she made her decision to undergo the prophylactic surgeries. Protected her sister, too.

Tough woman. I always liked her, but now I think she's just sensational.

[Ilsa]

8. I have to agree with you. I think keeping it private was a good move.

An issue like this doesn't have to be a campaign issue for sympathy or for people thinkig she isn't up for the job. Just keep some things private, keep the media out of it.

[Ex Lurker]

9. Best wishes to her. However, I look at it another way

since SHE was running for reelection too, I think it would have been relevant information to the voters in her district. They deserve to know if someone who wants to represent them is facing a serious medical issue, IMHO. I understand the desire for privacy, but that only goes so far when you voluntarily become a public official.

[Neecy]

14. no, I disagree

If she suddenly discovered stage 4 cancer or something I'd agree, but her cancer was caught very early. In addition, she didn't have chemo or radiation so she was able to carry on her duties without being ill from her treatments. If it didn't have any impact on her performance, there's no reason to broadcast it until she was ready to do so.

[Ocracoker16]

10. Matthews just announced it but actually it was announced on Sunday

There were several threads about it on Sunday. On Monday she testified before Congress on the issue of early detection.

She is an amazing woman. She had something like 7 surgeries. She carries the BRCA 2 gene which puts her at hight risk of breast and ovarian cancer. She had both of her ovaries removed in addition to having a double mastectomy to help prevent a recurrence. I hope the best for her.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

13. So did her sister

They decided on the surgeries when they discovered they carried the gene and when they learned that their mother had died of ovarian cancer at age 48.

When her sister's ovaries were removed, they were found to be riddled with cancer.

How do you not celebrate every day when you - hopefully - have ducked that horrible bullet?

Good for them both. I wish them long, healthy, happy lives.

I had a friend who went through this exact same experience for the exact same reason.................

[Berry Cool]

18. I do wish she wouldn't flog early detection as a guaranteed lifesafer.

It is not a guaranteed lifesaver. What it does is increase options so that lifesaving may be more possible.

I wish her all the best. She's another one I have to feel a little ashamed of getting irritated with last year when she was touting Hillary to the point of annoyance with me. Seemed every day I was seeing her and my congresscritter Stephanie Tubbs Jones saying things that irked me during the primaries. Now Stephanie's dead and Debbie reveals herself as someone who's been fighting for her life the whole past year.

She has really gone the extra mile, and I hope what she has done works.

[Neecy]

11. I think she's terrific

I was an Obama supporter during the primaries and I was always envious that Hillary had such a brilliant surrogate in her corner. She doesn't take any crap from anyone and she's never disagreeable when she disagrees - but she's definitely tough.

I fully support what she's doing to raise awareness of breast cancer for women under 40. I had a sister diagnosed when she was 37 and it was a complete shock to her, because she thought she wasn't yet in a high-risk population. Fortunately it was caught early and she made a full recovery, but women under 40 need to do self-exams just as much as women over 40.

[ecstatic]

12. His intro had me worried for a sec. He seemed to be talking in past tense

and I thought maybe she had passed away based on his intro.

[AlinPA]

15. She is a hero to me for keeping the filthy media out of the picture. The pigs would have

trashed her and would have claimed she was near death.

[tomm2thumbs]

16. wow - I swear these women of politics have moxy! good for her

that and family and politics and everything else - geesh