Craswell Diagnosed With Cancer

Former state Senate leader Ellen Craswell, who lost a bid for governor last week, was diagnosed Wednesday with an aggressive type of cancer, her husband said.

A biopsy performed at Harrison Memorial Hospital indicates a lump in the muscle of Craswell’s right thigh is liposarcoma, a malignant fatty tumor, Bruce Craswell said.

“It’s an aggressive cancer, which is not good,” he said.

Doctors at Harrison were referring Craswell to the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle for further evaluation on the best treatment, Bruce Craswell said.

He said he planned to bring her home this morning and she could go to the Seattle hospital as soon as Friday.

A full body workup this week, including a mammogram and lung exams, found no signs of cancer anywhere else in her body.

Treatment likely would include surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, he said, but added he would know more after doctors in Seattle are consulted.

His wife is “not in any pain other than the pressure (from the tumor) stretches the muscle a little. It’s the muscle that lets you stand up,” he said.

Ellen Craswell first noticed the lump, which can be felt but not seen, “after the primary, a few weeks ago,” Bruce Craswell said. Her doctor then thought it was a fatty tumor but probably not cancerous. But it then began to grow and is now about the size of an egg, her husband said.

Craswell had an MRI performed two days after the Nov. 5 election. That imaging exam confirmed the lump was a tumor.

Governor-elect Gary Locke was informed of Craswell’s hospitalization and will send flowers and a get-well message, said his spokeswoman, Sheryl Hutchison.