Rep. Mo Brooks Morris (Mo) Jackson BrooksAlabama rep: Roy Moore accuser 'is clearly a liar' GOP rep rushes down stairs as reporter asks about Roy Moore's accusers GOP lawmaker backing Moore: Conservative agenda 'more important than contested sexual allegations’ MORE (R-Ala.) revealed in an emotional House floor speech on Wednesday that he has prostate cancer.
Brooks lost the Alabama Senate GOP primary earlier this year, a result that he said may very well have saved his life.
“Had I won, I would not have had time for my physical and PSA test. I would not have had a prostate biopsy. I would not now know about my high-risk prostate cancer that requires immediate surgery. In retrospect, and paradoxically, losing the Senate race may have saved my life. Yes, God does work in mysterious ways,” Brooks said.
Republican Roy Moore ultimately prevailed to become the party's nominee over Brooks, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, and Sen. Luther Strange Luther Johnson StrangeGOP sen: ‘Just a fact’ Moore will face ethics complaint if elected Trevor Noah: Trump must be ‘morally degenerate’ to back Roy Moore Moore gets boost from Bannon in final days of campaign MORE (R-Ala.), who is temporarily serving in the seat after it was vacated by Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsGOP strategist donates to Alabama Democrat House passes concealed carry gun bill Rosenstein to testify before House Judiciary Committee next week MORE, who became attorney general.
But Moore lost to Democrat Doug Jones on Tuesday night following reports by The Washington Post that he had pursued sexual relationships with teenage girls while in his thirties.
Brooks first learned of his diagnosis on Halloween, when his doctor called after House votes to tell him he had “high-risk” prostate cancer.
“I felt an adrenaline rush as a chill went up and down my spine,” Brooks recalled. He then phoned his wife, who was welcoming trick-or-treaters back home in Huntsville.
“That night was one of the loneliest nights apart in our 41-year marriage,” he said, struggling to hold back tears.
Prostate cancer runs in Brooks’s family; both his father and grandfather were also diagnosed. Brooks’s father discovered his cancer early enough and lived for another four decades. But his grandfather learned of it too late.
Fortunately for Brooks, a CT scan and nuclear bone scan revealed no cancer beyond his prostate.
Brooks will undergo surgery this Friday, as well as a post-surgery medical procedure on Dec. 20. As a result, he will miss critical expected House votes next week on the GOP tax overhaul and end-of-year spending package to avert a government shutdown after Dec. 22.
It’s unlikely he would be medically cleared to travel.
In the meantime, Brooks expects to recuperate over the holidays with his family. And he offered some parting advice.
“Don’t ever, ever, take your health or family for granted. During the holidays, enjoy your family, because no one, no one, is promised tomorrow,” Brooks said.
IHateNaziPuns on December 13rd, 2017 at 21:34 UTC »
I know we’re all having fun celebrating a guy getting diagnosed with cancer, but I thought it’d be nice if we actually had the truth somewhere in the comment section. Here is the entire quote, in context:
"My understanding is that (the new proposal) will allow insurance companies to require people who have higher health care costs to contribute more to the insurance pool. That helps offset all these costs, thereby reducing the cost to those people who lead good lives, they're healthy, they've done the things to keep their bodies healthy. And right now, those are the people--who've done things the right way--that are seeing their costs skyrocketing."
Here, he is clearly saying that people who eat four Big Macs or smoke a pack of cigarettes per day should pay more for insurance, because it’s not fair to saddle that cost on people who don’t engage in those behaviors. He then goes on to say:
“In fairness, a lot of these people with pre-existing conditions, they have those conditions through no fault of their own. And I think our society, under those circumstances, needs to help.. The challenge though is that it's a tough balancing act between the higher cost of these mandates which denies people coverage because they can't afford their health insurance policies...and having enough coverage to help those people truly in need.”
Whether you agree or disagree with Brooks, this is a reasonable position that is somewhere in the spectrum of the mainstream. If you find any joy in this man’s cancer diagnosis based on an opinion held on a very complicated issue, you have a real fucking problem.
the_tickleMONSTER on December 13rd, 2017 at 19:05 UTC »
The majority of people who are diagnosed with prostate cancer die with the disease rather than from it though. Just saying.
Most people here act like he's fucked but with his Healthcare he will most likely be fine.
jef_snow on December 13rd, 2017 at 18:04 UTC »
"God will show me if I'm following the right path"
gets ass cancer
"Clearly I'm on the right path"