Rob Ford in ‘excruciating pain’
Councillor awaits test results to see if new tumour found on his bladder is cancerous
Suffering “excruciating pain,” Councillor Rob Ford is waiting to learn from doctors if a new tumour means his cancer has returned.
“It’s now been confirmed that there is a new tumour growing on his bladder,” Ford aide Dan Jacobs said in a statement Wednesday. “At this time, we are still awaiting testing results to determine if it is related to the previous growths, as well as whether it is malignant.
“Councillor Ford will be undergoing additional treatments to address this new tumour.”
Ford, who wears an abdominal binding and drain from 10-hour surgery in May to remove a cancerous abdominal tumour, started experiencing severe pain last week, his brother Doug Ford told CP24.
Rob Ford then spent “four or five days” at Mount Sinai Hospital undergoing tests but is not in hospital now, his brother said.
“He’s in excruciating pain right now. I just spoke to him. We just have to hope everything . . . ” Doug Ford said, choking up.
“Rob is one of the strongest people I’ve ever met and he’s going to keep fighting,” he also said, adding he believes his brother will see doctors again at Mount Sinai on Thursday.
Rob Ford was forced to drop his mayoral re-election bid last September after stomach pain prompted doctors to diagnose pleomorphic liposarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer of connective tissues.
The five-year survival rate for pleomorphic liposarcoma is 56 per cent, according to the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative, based in Ossining, N.Y. Some 39 per cent of people make it to the 10-year mark.
Ford’s famously close-knit family “is doing well, we’re staying optimistic,” his nephew, Toronto school trustee Michael Ford, told the Star. “Just like any other family, we stay close and we’ll stay by his side.
“Our family appreciates the support from the community. I’ve been getting an overwhelming amount of calls and emails, and we appreciate it very much.” Deputy Mayor Denzil Minnan-Wong, a Ford ally during much of his mayoralty, told the Star’s Tess Kalinowski: “I don’t think anyone here on council is happy about the setback. He’s gone through a lot and he deserves our sympathy and support.
“Rob was getting back to his old fighting form. Everyone was very glad that he seemed to be recuperating and his health was getting better. This is a blow and a surprise to everybody.”
Doctors said in May they saw no sign of other tumours or cancer.
“Rob is one of the strongest people I’ve ever met and he’s going to keep fighting.” DOUG FORD ROB’S BROTHER