WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was diagnosed with prostate cancer in December and underwent a minimally invasive procedure to treat and cure it, according to a statement from Walter Reed National Military Center officials on Tuesday.
“Secretary Austin recovered uneventfully from his surgery and returned home the next morning. His prostate cancer was detected early, and his prognosis is excellent,” the officials said.
Austin, 70, was then admitted to Walter Reed on Jan. 1 “with complications from the December 22 procedure, including nausea with severe abdominal, hip, and leg pain,” the officials said.
An initial evaluation found that he had a urinary tract infection and on Jan. 2, a decision was made to transfer Austin to the intensive care unit for “close monitoring and a higher level of care,” the statement said.
Doctors then discovered that Austin had “abdominal fluid collections impairing the function of his small intestines.”
“This resulted in the back up of his intestinal contents which was treated by placing a tube through his nose to drain his stomach,” the officials added. “The abdominal fluid collections were drained by non-surgical drain placement. He has progressed steadily throughout his stay.”
Officials said in the statement that Austin’s “infection has cleared” and “he continues to make progress and we anticipate a full recovery although this can be a slow process.” They said that during his hospitalization, Austin “never lost consciousness and never underwent general anesthesia.”
The revelation about his condition is a new development after the defense secretary and several of his aides waited days to notify the White House and key Pentagon officials that he was hospitalized for complications following what was described as “an elective medical procedure.”
The public didn’t know he was hospitalized until Friday evening when Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement that Austin had been admitted to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Monday night for “complications following a recent elective medical procedure,” though he didn’t specify what the procedure was.
The Defense Department didn’t tell senior officials at the National Security Council about the secretary’s hospitalization until Thursday.
On Tuesday, a day after he was admitted, some of the secretary’s duties were transferred to Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks who was on vacation in Puerto Rico. She was not told, however, about Austin’s hospitalization until Thursday, a senior defense official said Sunday.
On Monday, Ryder told reporters that he was informed about Austin’s hospitalization on Jan. 2, a day after he was admitted and two days before President Joe Biden and national security adviser Jake Sullivan were told. Ryder briefed reporters on camera on Thursday and did not disclose the secretary’s continued hospitalization. He did not provide further details — including whether he was directed not to tell anyone.
Ryder also said Monday that the Pentagon’s lawyers were reviewing whether any laws were broken during this failure to notify U.S. leaders and Congress.
This all occurred as tensions continued to intensify in the Middle East, including a rare and controversial strike by the U.S. against a senior Iranian-backed militia member in Baghdad.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
