U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn had his kidney and cancerous tissue surrounding it removed Monday at Mayo Clinic.
The surgeon who conducted the procedure said it was successful and that Hagedorn is resting comfortably, according to Jennifer Carnahan, Hagedorn's wife and chairwoman of the Minnesota Republican Party.
In a statement written before the surgery, Hagedorn said the elective procedure was good news. He was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer in February 2019 and has been getting immunotherapy at Mayo Clinic since then.
"My body's response to the innovative treatments has been fantastic. The cancer has been beaten back, degraded, and is localized on the kidney," Hagedorn said. "Because my condition improved so dramatically these past months and my other kidney functions just fine, doctors decided it was time to go in and remove the kidney, and by doing so, extract an estimated 99 percent of the cancer in my body."
The surgery does not mean he's cured, he said, but to be able to live a full life since diagnosis is a "mini-miracle."
Hagedorn urged others with serious illnesses to keep fighting and said people should get annual cancer screenings.
The Republican representative from southern Minnesota's First Congressional District defeated Democratic challenger Dan Feehan in a rematch in November.
"Thank you to the wonderful doctors & healthcare workers at @MayoClinic for taking good care of my husband today … We will continue to fight cancer together," Carnahan said in a tweet Monday.
