Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., said Wednesday he has been diagnosed with high-risk prostate cancer and credited his loss in the Republican primary for the Alabama Senate with saving his life.
The Alabama congressman revealed the diagnosis in an emotional speech on the House floor, during which he said he had to explain why he would be missing votes in the lower chamber.
Brooks said he will be having a prostatectomy Friday and will spend next week recovering in Alabama unless he is medically cleared to travel.
“God works in mysterious ways,” Brooks said. “When you are an elected official, missed votes require an explanation. That’s why I disclose this very personal, very private and very humbling matter.”
The Alabama Republican said he learned of his prostate cancer on Halloween night when he received a phone call from his doctor while standing on the steps of the Capitol.
“I felt an adrenaline rush as a chill went up and down my spine,” he said.
Brooks’ wife was in Huntsville, Ala., at the time, and after he called to tell her the news, Brooks said that night was “one of the loneliest nights apart in our 41-year marriage.”
“I kept thinking about my wonderful family, what do I do next, and how do I beat this cancer?” he said.
In reflecting on his experience, the Alabama congressman encouraged people not to take their health or family for granted, and said age-appropriate men should have a regular Prostate-Specific Antigen test.
But Brooks also pointed to his loss in the Republican primary for the Alabama Senate race as providing him with the time to undergo medical procedures that ultimately proved pivotal.
“Had I won, I would not have had time for my physical and PSA test. I would not have had a prostate biopsy. I would not have known about my high-risk prostate cancer that requires immediate surgery,” he said. “In retrospect and paradoxically, losing the Senate race may have save my life. “Yes, God does work in mysterious ways.”
