Labour MP Wes Streeting Confirms He's Cancer Free And “Back At Work, Fighting Fit”
2 min read
Labour MP Wes Streeting has confirmed he will be returning to work as MP for Ilford North after successfully undergoing treatment for kidney cancer earlier this year.
In May he announced that he would be taking time off from frontline politics following the "enormous shock" of his diagnosis.
The 38-year-old MP, who was recently made shadow secretary for child poverty, has now announced he will be returning to the Commons having successfully undergone surgery to remove the affected kidney, and confirmed he is free from cancer.
“I'm really pleased to let you know that I'm back at work, fighting fit and cancer-free,” Streeting said in a video message released on social media on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson replied directly to Streeting on Twitter to say it was "great news".
Streeting explained that he “wasn’t expecting” the “overwhelming response” he and his family received when his diagnosis was announced, and issued “a massive thank you to everyone who got in touch”.
“I also want to say, probably the biggest thanks of all to Ravi Barod, David Cullen and all of the NHS staff at the Royal Free Hospital, who supported me throughout my treatment,” Streeting continued.
“And also closer to home the NHS staff at King George and Queens Hospitals because they caught the cancer really early and without that early action the conversation we would be having might be a very different one.”
He added: “I just count my lucky stars really. I've lost a kidney but I've also got rid of the cancer. No chemotherapy, no radiotherapy. I'm just really lucky.”
The MP revealed earlier this year that doctors discovered a lump on his kidney in March while undergoing a scan to investigate a kidney stone.
“Around a month later in April, unfortunately that lump was diagnosed as kidney cancer,” Streeting said in a previous video message in May.
"While receiving a cancer diagnosis at the age of 38 has come as an enormous shock, the good news is because of that kidney stone the cancer has been caught early, my prognosis is very good and I should make a full recovery,” the video continued.
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