The city of Boston received some sad news this St. Patrick's Day weekend. Former Mayor Thomas Menino, who left the office in January after a record 20 years, has been diagnosed with an advanced form of cancer.
Dr. Charles A. Morris discovered the disease in February when Menino, 71, complained of leg weakness. Doctors don't know where the cancer originated, but say it has spread to the former mayor's liver and lymph nodes.
Menino began treatment in early March.
“My attitude really is, we’ll get through it,” he told the Boston Globe. “We got through the [illnesses in 2012], we’ll get through this. I have great doctors and supportive friends.”
Menino suffered a series of health scares in 2011, when he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
“I’ve never known Tom Menino to back down from a fight, and I don’t expect him to start now," Mayor Martin J. Walsh said Saturday in a statement. "Mayor Menino has always been here for the people of Boston, and we’re behind him today, 100 percent. Our thoughts and prayers are with him, Angela, their family and many friends.”
"Tom Menino is a friend and a fighter," Gov. Deval Patrick tweeted. "He will fight cancer just as he fought for the City of Boston for 20 years."
Menino's rep, Dot Joyce, told NewsCenter 5 is "one tough cookie," and will continuing working at Boston University.
[Boston Globe, WCVB]
