Powell Ponders Chemo

Former major leaguer Boog Powell is expected to make a complete recovery from colon cancer surgery, but he has yet to make a decision on whether to receive chemotherapy as a follow-up treatment.

Powell had a baseball-sized tumor removed from his colon Aug. 25. He has lost between 15 and 20 pounds, but the former Baltimore Oriole looked robust Monday at Camden Yards in his first appearance before the media since the operation.

“I feel great. I have very few side effects, except I don’t have the staying power I used to have,” said Powell, who played 14 seasons with the Orioles before finishing his 17-year career with the Cleveland Indians and Los Angeles Dodgers.

“The tumor was confined to the colon. There is no evidence it spread either way. … There is an excellent chance this will never come back again,” said Dr. Keith Lillemoe, who performed the surgery.

Powell, 56, said his frame of mind has been aided by conversations with Eric Davis, an Oriole who underwent a nearly identical surgery June 13.

Lillemoe also performed that procedure.