N.J. Gov. Murphy Announces He Has Tumor On His Kidney, Will Have Surgery
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy will have surgery next month to remove a tumor on his kidney, he announced on Saturday.
"Friends, I've got a tumor on my left kidney and will undergo a partial nephrectomy in early March to remove it," Murphy wrote on Twitter. "The prognosis is very good and I'm profoundly grateful to my doctors for detecting the tumor early."
So what is a nephrectomy? How serious is it? And what can Gov. Murphy expect from the surgery? CBS2's Scott Rapoport discussed the situation with Dr. Max Gomez.
"Partial nephrectomy is a fancy way of saying removing a part of the the kidney. That's what nephrectomy means. These days it's almost certainly done laparoscopically. And the recovery is very, very quick," Dr. Gomez said.
The 62-year-old Murphy won't know for sure if the tumor is cancerous until after the surgery.
Gomez said it's simply too early to make any kind of prognosis.
"It will depend on the pathology, taking a look at the type of tumor, the type of cells, whether it has invaded other parts of the body and so forth," Gomez said.
Murphy tweeted that he is far from alone here, adding that 50,000 New Jerseyans well learn they have cancer this year.
"If there's anything my diagnosis reminds me of, it's that preventative services are lifesaving and we need to continue fighting for affordable health care for all," Murphy said.