Rob Ford’s tumour scare five years ago was actually a case of appendicitis, his doctor confirmed on Wednesday.
Dr. Zane Cohen answered reporters’ questions at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital after revealing Ford’s cancer diagnosis as a “very rare” and “very difficult” tumour. He classified it as malignant liposarcoma.
“He did not have a tumour of the appendix,” Cohen said in response to a question related to Ford's medical history.
“We have documented evidence now that his time at Humber in 2009 was for appendicitis,”
A part of Ford’s colon was removed at the time because inflammation of the appendix had spread to cecum, the start of the large intestine.
“There was no tumour of the appendix at that time,” Cohen reiterated.
In July 2009, the mayor underwent surgery at Humber River Regional Hospital. Ford, who was then a city councillor, told reporters afterwards that the operation was to remove a tumour on his appendix.
“It really freaked me out when they said tumour,” Ford said to the Globe and Mail at the time.
Ford said the same thing to the Toronto Sun.
"What scares me is that tumour," he told the newspaper at the time. "They didn't even know what it was because it didn't look like a tumour. It was really inflamed and swollen and spread to your colon."
Ford told the Sun in the same interview that he didn't know whether or not the tumour was cancerous.
Cohen is leading the mayor's care team at Mount Sinai Hospital. He told reporters that Ford is beginning chemotherapy treatments, but surgery and radiation treatments could follow depending on how the tumour responds.
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