Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Edwards schedules press conference after visiting the doctor with his wife
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards accompanied his wife, Elizabeth, who has been treated for breast cancer, on a doctor's visit Wednesday. His campaign said they would hold a news conference in their hometown Thursday to discuss her health.
Campaign officials refused to answer any questions about what the Edwardses learned at the doctor's appointment or how it might affect his candidacy. Edwards had cut short a trip to Iowa Tuesday night to be with his wife Wednesday but still attended a barbecue fundraiser later in the evening in their hometown of Chapel Hill, N.C.
The campaign had said that Mrs. Edwards, 57, had a follow-up appointment to a routine test she had Monday. The campaign explained that she had similar follow-ups in the past but they always resulted in a clean bill of health.
The campaign refused to elaborate Wednesday. Family friends said Wednesday night that they didn't know of any new complications to her health.
"Her health has been so good for so long," said Kate Michelman, an Edwards adviser who was planning to work closely with Elizabeth Edwards to appeal to female voters around the country.
Mrs. Edwards was diagnosed with breast cancer in the final days of the 2004 campaign, when her husband was the Democratic vice presidential nominee. He announced the diagnosis the day after he and presidential nominee John Kerry lost the election.
Mrs. Edwards wrote about her life, including her breast cancer treatment that included chemotherapy, surgery and radiation, in a book published last year called "Saving Graces."
The Edwardses have been married nearly 30 years and had four children. Their oldest, Wade, died in a car accident in 1996.
Mrs. Edwards spoke about the death of her son and her cancer in an Associated Press interview last year.
"During the (2004) campaign, people who knew we had lost a son said, 'You are so strong,' and when I had breast cancer people would say, 'You are so strong,' and I thought, 'They don't know that there's a trick to being strong, and the trick is that nobody does it alone,"' she said. "I wanted, from the perspective of someone going through it, not tell them what to do, but show them what great support I got."
Mrs. Edwards is a former attorney who has been actively involved in her husband's campaign.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
