Carly Fiorina has breast cancer surgery

SAN FRANCISCO, March 4 (UPI) -- Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive officer, is recovering from breast cancer surgery in California, a top aide said.

Deborah Bowker said Fiorina was diagnosed Feb. 20 and operated on Monday at Stanford Hospital, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Fiorina was a senior adviser to Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign and believed to be a possible Republican candidate for the Senate against Barbara Boxer. The day after she learned she had cancer, she attended the state Republican convention, Bowker said.

"She's doing great," Bowker said.

Fiorina's prognosis is good, Bowker said. She will begin chemotherapy and limit some of her activities for the next few months.

Fiorina headed Hewlett-Packard from 1995 to 2005, when she was forced out after taking the company into a merger with Compaq. She left with a package that included $21 million in severance pay and another $21 million in stock options and pension.