-
Nov 6, 2007 2:03 pm US/Eastern
-
Digg |
Facebook |
E-mail
|
Print
Giuliani's Wife Describes His Battle With Cancer
LEBANON, N.H. (AP) ―
Rudy Giuliani was so flustered when he found he had prostate cancer that he initially thought he was getting good news, his wife said Tuesday at a leadership summit on breast cancer research.
Judith Giuliani was the first of two candidate spouses to speak at the conference, sponsored by the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization and the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. A registered nurse, she described the phone call her husband received after undergoing a biopsy in 2000.
"From the moment a patient hears the word cancer ... your ears are hearing through a different filter," she said. "Rudy, of course, as we all know, is one of the smartest guys around, but when he was first told that his diagnosis ... was positive, I watched his face as he said, 'Oh, wow. Positive. Positive is good right?"'
"Even for someone as intelligent as my husband is, it took a few moments for him to filter through that process and realize that in this unfortunate case, positive was not good," she said.
Giuliani, the former New York mayor and Republican presidential hopeful, often mentions that Judith Giuliani's background as a nurse helped him through his successful cancer treatment. He was estranged from his second wife, Donna Hanover, at the time and dating Judith Giuliani.
On Tuesday, Judith Giuliani said they were fortunate to survive the experience together.
Judith Giuliani said her husband's administration promoted free breast cancer screenings in New York and launched a $12 million, 20-year cancer study involving 300,000 New Yorkers.
The study was partially federally funded. At the time of study's launch in January 1999, Mayor Giuliani emphasized that he hoped it would provide New York an economic boost in addition to the medical research it would provide.
A proposed budget offered by Mayor Giuliani in April 2000 would have eliminated a city program that had provided free screenings for prostate, breast and ovarian cancers as well as for outreach and education programs. He restored funds for the programs following news reports about their elimination.
"I can assure you, when Rudy is president, you will have two allies in the White House," Judith Giuliani told the conference.
"This will be a priority to us." In a recent radio ad running in New Hampshire, the former mayor highlighted how the U.S. has a better survival rate for prostate cancer than under socialized medicine in the United Kingdom.
But the American Cancer Society says that survival rates are actually higher in the UK than the statistics used by Giuliani and that it's misleading to compare the two countries because doctors in the two nations have different approaches.
Elizabeth Kucinich, wife of Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich, also spoke at the conference. Mrs. Kucinich, who is from England, promoted her husband's single-payer health care plan and compared the ease and affordability of the health care she enjoyed in her home country to the United States.
"We really have an affordable health care system, and I don't see why America is afflicted with a system where we have insurance companies who are in business to make money, not provide health care," she said to strong applause.
WCBSTV.com's Most Popular Pages
Slideshow: Jessica Simpson Then To Now
Slideshow: Celebrity Foot-In-Mouth Disease
Hollywood Walk Of Names: Celebrity Real Names Revealed
Slideshow: Gossip! Rag Mag Wrap-Up
Silent Service: Secret Subs In Action
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)