Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has 'very advanced and very aggressive' cancer

Very shocking news out of Annapolis yesterday, as Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan - who was just elected this past November - announced that he has a "very advanced and very aggressive" form of non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. But the good news, which should serve as the basis of hopeful and confident prayers on the part of many, is that Hogan's doctors actually give him a good chance of beating it. Below is a seven-minute clip from yesterday's press conference in which Hogan himself made the announcement.

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Hogan is 59, and he's going to have to go through some very aggressive chemotherapy. During that time he says he'll continue to work, although he will obviously have to give some time over to his treatment, and he is up front about the fact that Lt. Gov. Boyd K. Rutherford will have to have his back at times. Although he has more than 30 tumors, the Washington Post reports that the odds may indeed be in his favor:

Kevin Cullen, director of the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center, said that about 70 percent of patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma are still alive after five years. Cullen said most cases of the disease are discovered at stage 3, when the tumors are more pronounced, just as Hogan’s was. Patients rarely require surgery or radiation in addition to chemotherapy, he said, adding that he thinks Hogan is taking the right approach with his plans to work while being treated.

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“We encourage people to maintain as normal a routine as possible when they’re being treated,” Cullen said. “I think it’s important for people to maintain a positive psychological outlook. People who derive pleasure and mental stimulation from working, we encourage them to do it.” Everyone should pray for Hogan, regardless of their political inclinations. (Do I even have to say that?) In terms of the politics, Hogan is indeed a welcome change for Maryland - working to eliminate its "rain tax mandate" and otherwise reverse the liberal tax-and-spend policies that have characterized state government under former Gov. Martin O'Malley and other liberals before him. His election was one of the most hopeful things to come out of the 2014 red wave election, and Maryland looks to be far better off in the long term for having him. Cancer is serious no matter what form it takes, but it is not necessarily a death sentence. Herman has told you all about his diagnosis and successful treatment nine years ago. (He's still cancer-free, by the way, thank God.) But almost all of us have lost someone to cancer, so the right perspective is to be prayerfully hopeful while maintaining a serious understanding of the challenge. I come against this cancer in the name of Jesus. I invite you to join me in that, and in uplifting the Hogan family as they confront this together.

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