After a political career shaped by cancer, Biden faces his own grim diagnosis

WASHINGTON – In Joe Biden’s family, there’s a saying that the 3 worst words anyone tin perceive are “you person cancer.”

One decennary ago, his lad Beau died from a encephalon tumor. Several years later, his woman Jill had 2 cancerous lesions removed successful her ain brushwood with the disease.

Now it is the erstwhile president’s turn. Biden’s bureau disclosed his prostate crab diagnosis implicit the weekend, saying it has already dispersed to his bones.

Although the crab tin perchance beryllium controlled with treatment, it is no longer curable. The announcement is simply a bitter revelation that a illness that has brought truthful overmuch calamity to Biden’s beingness could beryllium what ends it.

“Cancer touches america all,” Biden wrote connected societal media. “Like truthful galore of you, Jill and I person learned that we are strongest successful the breached places.”

Even earlier the diagnosis, Biden's post-presidency was shadowed by questions astir his wellness and whether helium should person tally for reelection. As questions astir his fittingness for bureau mounted, helium abandoned the run and Donald Trump retook the presidency by defeating Kamala Harris. As the 82-year-old Biden works to safeguard his damaged governmental legacy, he'll besides beryllium warring a illness that shaped the last chapters of his decades-long career.

Biden was serving arsenic Barack Obama's vice president erstwhile Beau died successful 2015. He decided not to question the Democratic information the pursuing year, which helped wide a way for Hillary Clinton, who mislaid to Trump successful 2016.

Valerie Jarrett, a longtime Obama adviser, said Biden wanted to “channel his grief into enactment and fig retired however we tin bash better” connected treating crab to "make definite that different radical didn’t person to spell done what helium went through.”

The effort was formalized arsenic a White House task force, with Biden successful charge. After a fewer years retired of office, Biden re-entered authorities to run against Trump successful 2020. The heartache from Beau's decease was ne'er acold from the aboveground though. His eldest lad had been Delaware's lawyer wide and often viewed arsenic Biden's governmental successor.

“Beau should beryllium the 1 moving for president, not me,” Biden said, a thought helium echoed connected galore occasions.

He made warring crab a absorption for his presidency, resurrecting a “moonshot” inaugural to summation backing for probe and amended treatment. He unveiled the inaugural astatine the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum successful 2022, echoing the Democratic icon's celebrated code declaring that “we volition spell to the moon” six decades earlier.

"Beating crab is thing we tin bash together," Biden said.

By this point, helium had already signed authorities known arsenic the PACT Act to grow healthcare benefits for veterans. The instrumentality guarantees attraction for chronic illnesses blamed connected pain pits, which were utilized to dispose of chemicals, tires, plastics, aesculapian instrumentality and quality discarded connected subject bases.

Biden near nary uncertainty that helium believed Beau’s decease resulted from his work with the National Guard successful Iraq.

“When they came home, galore of the fittest and champion warriors that we sent to warfare were not the aforesaid — headaches, numbness, dizziness, cancer,” helium said. “My lad Beau was 1 of them.”

Denis McDonough, who led the Veterans Affairs Department nether Biden, said the president didn't speech astir Beau's decease during argumentation discussions. But helium said it was wide that Biden “knew the acquisition that different families were having, and helium was going to beryllium damn definite that we weren’t going to miss an accidental to code that.”

McDonough recalled that Biden wanted the caller instrumentality to instrumentality effect arsenic rapidly arsenic possible.

“He had an enactment to agelong it out," helium said. "He said nary way.”

The pursuing year, archetypal woman Jill Biden had 2 cancerous lesions removed, 1 supra her close oculus and the different connected her chest. They were some basal compartment carcinoma.

Learning of the diagnosis “was a small harder than I thought,” she told The Associated Press during a travel to Africa.

“I’m lucky," she said. "Believe me, I americium truthful fortunate that they caught it, they removed it, and I’m healthy.”

Biden's crab diagnosis is not the archetypal clip that he's faced his ain mortality.

Months aft ending his archetypal statesmanlike run successful 1988, helium collapsed successful a New York edifice room. In his memoir “Promises to Keep,” helium described “lightning flashing wrong my head, a almighty electrical surge — and past a rip of symptom similar I’d ne'er felt before.”

He had suffered a encephalon aneurysm that required surgery. Biden wrote that “I had nary existent fearfulness of dying. I’d agelong since accepted the information that life’s guarantees don’t see a just shake.”

McDonough imagined that Biden would consciousness likewise astir his existent situation.

“He’s ever connected to the adjacent fight,” helium said.

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