Arlen Specter Can't Fund A Clean Bill of Health

A little while ago, we told you about Sen. Arlen Specter's book about how he overcame Hodgkin's disease in 2005. Turns out, though, he wasn't completely out of the woods.

Sen. Arlen Specter's Hodgkin's disease, which he battled in 2005, has recurred, but doctors said that its return was detected early and that Specter has an "excellent chance" of once again achieving remission, according to a statement issued Tuesday by the senator's office.

Specter, 78, will continue to perform his Senate duties and conduct his campaign for re-election to a sixth term but will undergo 12 weeks of chemotherapy, the written statement said. The recurrence was found during a routine scan, which flagged small lymph nodes in Specter's chest and abdomen. A follow-up biopsy of one of the chest lymph nodes was positive for recurrence, but a bone marrow biopsy was negative.

Doctors cite the early diagnosis as the explanation for the optimism they have this go around. The senator says that he's beaten a lot of political opponents during his career and he is ready to win this second bout with Hodgkin's disease. We can't help but wonder when the next book in the miniseries is due out.

[CNN]

Arlen Specter in Favor of His Reformed Health

Senator Arlen Specter has written a book, due out next week, about his recent bout with Hodgkin's disease. next week. "Never Give In: Battling Cancer - and Politicians - in the Senate" follows Specter's autobiography, "Passion for Truth," published in 2000.

These books cover Specter's near extinction from the political arena over the past few decades, and from the world in the past few years. He gets beat around more than the Washington Senators used to before they faced extinction from Major League Baseball.

Healthwise, he's been misdiagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease (1979), had two brain tumor operations (1993, 1996) and a near-death experience after complications from a quadruple bypass operation (1998). But his gravest challenge was the 2005 diagnosis of late-stage Hodgkins disease (cancer of the lymph system) at age 75.

How did Specter get through it all?

Specter's solution for the debilitating effects of chemotherapy was simple: "Work, work, work." He plowed straight ahead as chairman of the Judiciary Committee on contentious issues like judicial nominations that nearly ground the Senate to a halt.

"In a sense, the tougher the day, the better I liked it," Specter writes in the book. "It kept my mind off me."

Now that Specter's cancer is in remission, he's urging other people facing illness to find strength beyond their suffering. Or, as we choose to call it, an Introspecter Look.

[Philadelphia Daily News]

Birthdays that Didn't Suspend Alternate Side Parking in New York City

Some people just can't wait to be part of death pool Even if it means faking their own death.

Alas, some people remain picked but not worth any points (yet). But at least they get to celebrate their own birthdays...

Yesterday was somebody's birthday! Whose Birthday? Former Boston Celtic Bill Russell's Birthday. How Old Is He? 1,2,3,4... 74! And Never been Kissed By... Death

Bill Russell's name appears on "the Garden of eden's" roster

• Before the 1966-67 NBA season, legendary Celtics coach Red Auerbach retired and named Russell as a player-coach. Russell thus became the first African-American head coach in NBA history.
  

I have nothing funny to say about this. Good for Bill.

Yesterday was somebody else's birthday! Whose Birthday? Senator Arlen Specter's Birthday. How Old Is He? 1,2,3,4... 78! And Never been Kissed By... Death

Arlen Specter's name appears on "Yiz-Score: 2007 DP Champ's" roster

• At the recommendation of Rep. Gerald R. Ford, he worked for the Warren Commission, investigating the assassination of John F. Kennedy. As an assistant counsel for the commission, he authored or co-authored the controversial "single bullet theory," which suggested the non-fatal wounds to President Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connally were caused by the same bullet.

How did he think that theory made sense? I wouldn't vote for him for Senate just becuase he obviously lives in a fantasy land.

... And Many More!