On Thursday morning, Minnesota U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar announced that she had undergone treatment for Stage 1A breast cancer after being diagnosed in May. Klobuchar chose not to make her diagnosis public at first but now is speaking up.
Klobuchar joined News Talk 830 WCCO's Jordana Green in Jordana's first show back since taking a leave to focus on her recovery from Leukemia. The two discussed Klobuchar's announcement and her fight with cancer.
Klobuchar found herself putting off her routine mammogram and checkup earlier this year while dealing with her father's declining health and passing and the pandemic. Then, in early May, Jim Klobuchar passed away at the age of 93.
After her father passed, she went in for a checkup, and that was when she found out she had cancer.
"When I first found out about this, like everyone else, I thought 'oh no cancer,'" Klobuchar said.
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For Klobuchar, being told she had cancer was life-changing.
"It puts things in perspective; you want to reach out to the ones you love," she said. "For me when I first heard it, I thought 'oh.'"
While she listened to her doctor, her mind started racing, hearing them talk about possible treatments and radiation therapy, not knowing what to do.
"I'm listening, but I don't even know what that means," she said.
On top of that, Klobuchar had to vote one hour later on legislation while searching for information on treatment after.
However, she did not have to go through the fight alone.
"I was fortunate enough to experience that with the nurses and the doctors and friends from both sides of the aisle," she said.
Another support system, and the most important, was her husband and daughter, who she called her "rock," in a difficult time.
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She shared that while traveling to and from Minnesota, she could not do simple things like lift a suitcase, but the kindness of strangers helping her who didn't even know who she was made the recovery easier.
"It matters how people treat each other," she said.
Now, after recovering and dealing with everything else in her life, Klobuchar wants others to slow down and take care of themselves.
"There are people right now listening who have put off their routine physicals," the Senator said. "Make your appointment and go in."
Acknowledging how challenging the last year and a half has been, she knows that taking time to do routine checkups can save someone's life.
When it comes to her experience with the American healthcare system, she now has a new perspective after seeing it up close. She shared that it will be something she works to make more accessible for all Americans, especially those fighting cancer.
