Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), a member of the Jan. 6 committee, said Wednesday night that he’ll start chemotherapy this week to treat his Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma.
The congressman initially announced his diagnosis in a Wednesday statement.
“I am about to embark on a course of chemo-immunotherapy on an outpatient basis at Med Star Georgetown University Hospital and Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center,” he wrote. “Prognosis for most people in my situation is excellent after four months of treatment.”
He added on the chemotherapy treatment, winkingly: “I am advised that it also causes hair loss and weight gain (although I am still holding out hope for the kind that causes hair gain and weight loss).”
He elaborated further on MSNBC Wednesday night, telling host Chris Hayes that he’d been through a “battery of tests” over the last several days to confirm that he has the illness.
“It’s very serious and it’s aggressive,” Raskin said, adding: “If I take well to the chemotherapy, which starts this week, and I go through all of my six sessions, then I’ll be in good shape.”
Raskin, who led the second impeachment against Donald Trump, was named ranking member of the powerful House Oversight Committee last week.
He also wrote a memoir this year, “Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy,” about the twin traumas of the death of his son, Tommy, by suicide just days before the Capitol was attacked.
Statements of support for Raskin have been flooding in from members of Congress and Maryland politicians.
“Wishing a fast recovery for an outstanding public servant and a long-time friend,” wrote White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain on Twitter.
