Sen. Amy Klobuchar Reveals She Battled Early Stage Breast Cancer this Year

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) on Thursday revealed she has been battling early-stage breast cancer, but she reported that her treatment “went well” and used the opportunity to urge people to continue their routine health checkups, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Klobuchar provided the update in a Medium post, revealing that “doctors at Mayo Clinic found small white spots called calcifications during a routine mammogram” in February. She subsequently had a biopsy at Piper Breast Center in Minneapolis and learned it was Stage 1A breast cancer.

“After a number of other tests, I returned to Mayo and had a lumpectomy on the right breast which involved the removal of the cancer,” she wrote.

“In May, I completed a course of radiation treatment, and after additional follow-up visits, it was determined in August that the treatment went well,” the senator explained.

“Of course this has been scary at times, since cancer is the word all of us fear, but at this point my doctors believe that my chances of developing cancer again are no greater than the average person,” the former presidential candidate continued, thanking doctors and nurses as well as urging others to be mindful of routine checkups, despite the pandemic.

She wrote:

I also want to call attention to the fact that many people have been delaying physicals and routine examinations because of the pandemic. I know that because I delayed mine. In fact, more than one in three adults reported delaying or forgoing health care because of coronavirus-related concerns. Studies have found that thousands of people who missed their mammogram due to the pandemic may be living with undetected breast cancer. Over and over, doctors are seeing patients who are being treated for more serious conditions that could have been caught earlier.

There is rarely a good time to go in for a mammogram or routine health screening. So many Americans are still juggling their children on their laps and their laptops on their desks. They are constantly balancing their families, their jobs, and their health. It’s easy to put off health screenings, just like I did. But I hope my experience is a reminder for everyone of the value of routine health checkups, exams, and follow-through. I am so fortunate to have caught the cancer at an early enough stage and to not need chemotherapy or other extensive treatments, which unfortunately is not the case for so many others.

Klobuchar added that the health scare, which coincided with her father’s death, gave her “renewed purpose” to her work and mentioned that the support of her friends and family allowed her to continue her work on “major pandemic and economic legislation, as well as chairing the joint Senate January 6th investigation and the For the People hearings while undergoing cancer treatment.”

“Thank you for your support,” she added.