Gov. Dayton's Prostate Cancer Surgery Went As Planned
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) –– Gov. Mark Dayton is recovering from surgery to have his prostate removed.
A spokesperson for the governor said that the surgery Thursday morning went as planned and wrapped up around 11:30 a.m. after taking about five hours.
The governor, who is battling prostate cancer, planned to spend the rest of the day recovering at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, surrounded by family. He plans to stay in the hospital overnight.
Dayton, 70, decided to have surgery over radiation last month. His health struggles have played out in public during his two terms in office.
The governor has had several hip and back surgeries during his six years in office.
After he collapsed in January while delivering his State of the State address, Dayton revealed the next day he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Dayton said the fall was due to dehydration, not his cancer diagnosis.
Park Nicollet urologist Dr. Jocelyn Rieder, who has not treated the governor, said prostate removal surgery is not typically very painful and requires a few weeks of recovery time.
"We want patients to walk the same day they have surgery and be moving around," she said.
The governor's team has said he will be back to work Monday morning.
Late Thursday night, Dayton released a statement on Facebook:
A Dayton spokesperson said there were no signs the cancer had spread beyond the prostate, and the Mayo Clinic called it "localized, treatable and curable."
Mayo Clinic doctors also said Dayton should be able to carry on his duties as governor without significant interruption until end of his term in 2019.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) reports that after skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men.
Prostate cancer is also the third leading cause of cancer deaths, according to ACS.
One of the problems with early detection is early prostate cancer usually causes no symptoms, so patients should talk to their doctors about screenings.
The ACS reports that if prostate cancer has not spread to other organs, the survival rate is nearly 100 percent.