Lawmaker upbeat as he battles cancer

The morning after his first chemotherapy treatment state Sen. Maurice Washington was upbeat and smiling.

"First day, everything's OK," the three-term Republican from Sparks said recently. He joked that he's not concerned about his hair falling out - a possible reaction to the chemotherapy - because he already shaves his head.

"When you hear the big C word, you don't have to think death is on the horizon," the 48-year-old minister said of his cancer diagnosis and his December surgery to remove a tumor in his colon. "You can take care of it, eradicate it quickly and go on with life."

Washington weighs 205 pounds, having lost 35 since surgery.

He's proud to say that he's only 15 pounds heavier than he was as a University of Nevada football player in the late 1970s. He munches pretzels to help dull the nausea of chemotherapy.

"I feel blessed, I honestly do," said Washington, pastor of the Center of Hope Christian Fellowship in Sparks. "I'm blessed that it happened when it happened and not later in life because I can go on and live a normal life."

Washington is receiving welcomed encouragement at the 2005 Legislature in Carson City, where some staff employees and three other lawmakers are cancer survivors.

News of Washington's struggle has reminded lawmakers, lobbyists and legislative employees that the disease has hit many others in state government.

"I don't think there is anybody in the Legislature who doesn't have some kind of personal contact with cancer or a cancer victim," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno.

Washington had emergency colon surgery Dec. 5 after complaining of stomach pain during the impeachment trial of state controller Kathy Augustine.

The day after the trial ended, Washington was rushed to the emergency room after the pain became unbearable.

His doctors estimated they took out about 75 percent of the cancer during the operation in Reno. Washington hopes chemotherapy treatments every other Tuesday will knock out the cancer completely.

Nevada men have about a 50-50 shot of surviving colorectal cancer for more than five years, according to the latest statistics available, for 1997-2001 from the Nevada State Health Division's Report on Cancer.

Washington said his doctors told him that his chances of surviving more than five years would increase to 85 percent with treatment.

Washington said he plans to live way beyond five years. But the disease has forced Washington and his wife of 26 years, Donna Washington, to think about a shorter life.

"I hope I make it to my 70s," he said. "I want to make it to my 70s or 80s, but at this point in time, I want to make it to my 60s."

The percentages are in Washington's favor, but doctors warned "that there are no guarantees," Donna Washington said.

"When they talked about five years, I thought, wow, five years, that's not very long," she said. "But I realize that tomorrow is not promised to anyone. So I'm not going to spend my time worrying that he may die.

"Instead, we said, 'Lets go out and enjoy life. Let's not put things off,'" she said. "I don't have much longer to retire. We were always going to do things when I retired. But now, we say, 'Let's not wait.'"

Washington's Christian faith is his ace card in his fight against cancer, he said. "It's comforting knowing that God has his hands on everything and that he will see me through," he said.

Washington said the worst is yet to come: "I've got 11 chemotherapy treatments left."