Global Courant
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) discussed his rare cancer diagnosis in a Twitter thread on Monday, saying he originally found out he had the disease after a car accident in Spain.
In the series of messagesCastro, a member of Congress since 2013, said he initially wondered how much time he would have left with his kids.
“My youngest daughter turned two months old on the day of my accident. I wondered how much longer my kids would have their dad around,” Castro wrote.
Castro did operation in February to remove tumors from his gastrointestinal tract.
“I could barely pronounce ‘neuroendocrine’ tumor, a rare cancer, when I arrived at MD Anderson in mid-July 2022,” Castro tweeted. “But I knew that a tumor spreading over your body is not good. I hadn’t told many people about my diagnosis when so many things were going through my mind.”
Castro wrote that he found out he had a neuroendocrine tumor after suffering injuries when the driver of his car hit a boar that ran into the road while he was on a summit in Spain. Castro now says that incident saved his life.
A neuroendocrine tumor forms from cells that release hormones into the blood in response to a signal from the nervous system, according to the National Cancer Institute. Neuroendocrine tumors can produce higher than normal amounts of hormones, which can cause many different symptoms.
“Between two languages I heard: ‘My radiologist called me. He said he believes he sees two neuroendocrine tumors that have spread from your small intestine to your liver. I hate being the bearer of bad news.’ I asked some questions and then she left,” Castro wrote. “I never received a bill.”
Castro, 48, is one of several lawmakers to announce a cancer diagnosis in recent months.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) shared last December that he had been diagnosed with a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, called it “a serious but curable cancer”.
Raskin, a former member of the now-defunct House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, shared in April that his cancer is in remission.
Representative Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) announced earlier this year he was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, a serious but curable form of cancer. Kildee announced last month that his cancer is “gone” after having surgery for it.
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