Five weeks after being hospitalized for recurring cancer, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow returned to his job Monday to spar with reporters as he prepared for chemotherapy.
Journalists applauded as Snow entered the briefing room, where he promptly got choked up while trying to thank people for their support and prayers. Snow fell silent four times in as row while trying to regain his composure as cameras rolled.
“I’m not trying to feel sorry for myself,” he explained as he struggled with his emotions. “I’m just going to stop being choked up, because you guys have been so wonderful.”
After the briefing, Snow told The Examiner that when he first entered the hospital to undergo surgery, President Bush called him every day. Eventually, the spokesman told his boss such calls were unnecessary.
“But we can be phone buddies,” Bush protested, according to Snow.
“You’re too busy for this,” the spokesman says he told the president.
Snow made clear that he is back to stay, even if that means delegating some duties on Fridays when he undergoes chemotherapy, which begins this week. He pointed out that he worked through most of his 2005 bout with colon cancer, which required six months of chemotherapy.
In March, doctors discovered that the disease had returned.
“There’s some small cancers in the peritoneum and we are going to start attacking them using chemotherapy,” Snow said Monday. “The design is to throw it into remission and transform it into a chronic disease. If cancer is merely a nuisance for a long period of time, that’s fine with me.”
Snow said he was optimistic about his chances of survival.
“I won’t tell you how it’s going to work out because I don’t know,” he shrugged. “There’s always hope. Not everybody will survive cancer. But on the other hand, you’ve got to realize that you’ve got the gift of life, so make the most of it.”
The ExamiNation question of the day: What would you say to Tony Snow if you could meet him?
