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TORONTO MAYOR ROB Ford has been diagnosed with a malignant tumour.
Ford will undergo chemotherapy to fight the tumour, his doctor said today.
His diagnosis follows a week of hospitalisation and tests, which led him to leave his re-election campaign and to focus on his health.
The 45-year-old mayor only returned to work in June after two months in rehab for drug and alcohol abuse, including the use of crack cocaine.
Abdominal pains
He was admitted last week to hospital with abdominal pains and a battery of tests showed Ford has malignant liposarcoma, doctor Zane Cohen told a press conference.
Cohen said the rare type of cancer, which arises in soft tissues including fatty tissue, blood vessels, nerves and muscles, is “fairly aggressive.”
“But we are treating this very aggressively in order to eradicate the tumor,” he added. “And we are optimistic about this tumour.”
Over the coming months, Ford will have a cycle of three days of chemotherapy to try to shrink the “relatively large mass,” which measures 12 by 12 centimeters, followed by 18 days of rest, Cohen said.
Doctors will then reassess the cancer. Further chemotherapy, radiation or surgery may be required, he said.
Ford garnered global notoriety for smoking crack cocaine in a “drunken stupor” while in office.
It was announced last Friday that Ford’s brother city councillor Doug Ford is to take his place on the ballot paper.
The election is scheduled for 27 October and two other major candidates are still in the running, as well as Doug Ford.
Additional reporting Aoife Barry
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Surrogacy is exploitative IMHO. No one, gay or straight, is entitled to be a parent. I know that’s harsh but it’s also true.
@Sean Ryan: entitled? Yes I think that’s a fair point but those who can’t have children or have difficulty having them or those in same sex relationships should be given every opportunity to fulfil that need. I have met people who not been able to have children. It has cost them huge amounts of money even relationships & I think these people often deserve more help and support.
@Allora: I see it as a “want” rather than a “need”. People can be supported in wanting a child without surrogacy.
Babies rights ignored as usual
The whole idea of surrigacy is gruesomd
I’ve heard the same people make the argument that the sex trade commodities women’s bodies to the highest bidder, whilst also supporting surrogacy which commodities women’s bodies to the highest bidder.
@Ivor McTin: Really? You’re comparing someone bringing a life into the world to someone getting their hole? You do realise in the majority of cases surrogate mothers don’t actually have sex with the father. Why do you find a woman doing the most natural thing in the world- having a baby, offensive if it’s entirely a free and willing choice?
@David F. Dwyer: having a someone else’s baby for cash, without having to do the deed, is hardly what one would call “the most natural thing in the world” mate – lolz.
Also you are projecting “offense” on to the guy’s post. He was making an observation about other people – not getting outraged himself – jeez.
@UK Hurling Bloke: Why did you put “offense” in quotes when I used the adjective in its correct form, not a misspelling of the noun? Try reading what a person says instead of projecting yourself, you dink.
P.S. sorry for you that you consider procreation unnatural.
@David F. Dwyer: it’s not a free and willing choice, it’s a lucrative and willing choice.
@Coco Walsh: So what?
Because Ireland clearly has not faked enough birth certificates in the past
Sorry to break it to some of you, but not every surrogate does it for money.. some offer to become a surrogate for friends or family because all other options have been exhausted… it’s the greatest gift that can be given …
have your say