Minnesota U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar says she was diagnosed with breast cancer in March, and after successful surgery and a round of radiation treatment, she's speaking out to encourage others not to delay routine examinations.
"There are so many people that are delaying routine exams during the pandemic. I did the same," Klobuchar said in an interview. "Luckily for me, I did go in and I caught it early enough where I didn't need chemotherapy and more extensive treatments."
Klobuchar, 61, who shared her experience for the first time on Thursday, said doctors at Mayo Clinic found small white spots called calcifications on her right breast in February. A follow-up biopsy at the Piper Breast Center in Minneapolis confirmed that she had first-stage invasive breast cancer.
"It's scary for anyone when you hear that," she said. "And this is just an initial test; you don't know if it's going to be worse."
She was sitting in her apartment in Washington, D.C., waiting to cast a vote on the federal pandemic stimulus package when she got the news. At the time, the Democrat in her third term was sponsoring major election reform legislation and chairing the joint Senate investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection. Few knew that the health of her father, Jim Klobuchar, was also rapidly declining.
Subsequent tests showed the cancer hadn't spread beyond her breast, so a lumpectomy was scheduled for the end of March to remove the cancer. That was followed by a round of radiation treatment, which Klobuchar started two days after her father died in May.
"That was the hardest part for me," said Klobuchar. "My husband and my daughter were the rocks for me the whole time."
By August, doctors told Klobuchar that her treatment had gone well and her chances of developing cancer again are no greater than the average person. Klobuchar said she's feeling great and will continue to get regular mammograms.
