Alabama Gov. Ivey: ‘I’m doing fine’ after cancer diagnosis

Published 3:16 pm Monday, September 23, 2019

FROM STAFF REPORTS

OZARK, Ala. — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said Monday that she feels fine and has a good prognosis after announcing last week that she had been diagnosed with lung cancer.

“I’m doing fine. I feel fine. I hope I look fine. … It was caught very, very early and it’s a good prognosis, a high rate of success,” Ivey told reporters after a speech at a south Alabama Army base.

The 74-year-old Republican governor announced last week that doctors found a malignant spot in her lung and that she will receive radiation treatments. Ivey has not disclosed her exact diagnosis or staging.

Ivey said Monday that she feels grateful the cancer was found early and for the support she has received from people across the state. She said doctors have assured her that a “full recovery is very, very possible.”

“It’s isolated. We’ll zap it out with some radiation and be done with it,” Ivey said. “If the doctors and I do my best, God will do the rest.”

The governor underwent an outpatient procedure Friday at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, which she said was to place markers to guide her radiation treatment.

Ivey talked briefly with reporters after speaking at the United States Army Aviation Museum at Fort Rucker for a ceremony for the 2019 official White House Christmas ornament, which is in the image of the helicopter.