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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Andrus recovering after cancer surgery

Associated Press

BOISE – Doctors removed part of the right lung of former Idaho Gov. Cecil Andrus earlier this month after finding a malignant tumor.

Doctors found no sign of any other cancer after the five-hour surgery on July 3, and there are no plans for chemotherapy or radiation, Andrus told the Idaho Statesman in a story Monday.

“I had – past tense – lung cancer,” Andrus said. “They took the full lobe off my right lung and say they couldn’t find evidence of malignancy any place else in my beautifully shaped, youthful body. Well, I guess that was my phrase.”

Andrus said he plans to go on his annual elk hunt in October.

“I’ll be strong enough by then,” he said Monday. Andrus, who will be 83 on Aug. 25, is Idaho’s longest-serving governor, holding office from 1971 to 1977, and again from 1987 to 1995.

He missed the funeral Friday for former Gov. John Evans, noting that it “troubled me a great deal.” But he told Evans’ family and Gov. Butch Otter, “Hey, I’m flat on my back. I can’t move.”

Andrus still keeps an eye on the Idaho National Laboratory and the work there to deal with radioactive waste.

He has 17 more years to make it to 100, he said.

“And if that admiral in Eastern Idaho doesn’t get the nuke waste cleaned up I’ll last a little longer. My adversaries should not be smiling – they might get a little free time here for three or four weeks, but other than that we’ll be doing battle,” he said.