CORNWALL, Ontario – Cornwall Mayor Bob Kilger is once again fighting cancer.
In an interview with Seaway News the mayor, who has less than a week in office before a new city council and mayor-elect Leslie O’Shaughnessy is sworn in on Monday, said the cancer was detected in his colon.
He got word of the diagnosis during the election, but is still discussing treatment options with his doctors.
“I’m going to face it with optimism,” Kilger said. “I’m going to kick butt on this too.”
Kilger is no stranger to defeating the disease. His time in office included being treated for stomach cancer, though he pointed out the diagnoses are unrelated.
“This is a brand new cancer,” he said, urging others to complete regular colonoscopies, which led to the detection of his particular illness. “You can never underestimate getting these things done.
“Early detection can lead to early treatment, and early treatment can lead to a better quality of life.”
Kilger was advised of the diagnosis at about the mid-point of the recent municipal election, but kept the news quiet, including from his family until after the race was finished.
“There was nothing that could be done at that time frame,” he said. “I’m feeling fine. I feel very good.”
While the specifics of the treatment have not been spelled out, surgery, chemo therapy or a combination of the two after often employed. The decision to add chemotherapy in management of colon and rectal cancer depends on the stage of the disease.
Kilger has not issued any media releases on the diagnosis and confirmed there won’t be any in the future.
Early detection of colon cancer is key in battling the disease. If the cancer can be detected and removed before it has had a chance to spread to other parts of the body the survival rate increases dramatically.
