On Thursday, a doctor released more details about Maggie Daley's metastatic breast cancer, which has spread to a bone in her leg, a lung and liver. Apparently, Mrs. Daley has been undergoing treatment for all of those spots for some time, but her doctor didn't address the lung and liver until now, according to the mayor's spokeswoman.
Metastatic cancer is when cancer cells break away from a primary tumor, enter the bloodstream or lymphatic system and spread to other parts of the body. Common areas for breast cancer to spread are bones, lungs, liver and brain.
Thursday, Mrs. Daley attended a ceremony at the John Hancock Center plaza, where a tulip was named in her honor. She sat for most of that ceremony and was using crutches when she walked.
Mrs. Daley has remained consistently upbeat in public about her condition. She was no different Thursday, saying that she will look forward to seeing the tulip bloom every spring.
However, Maggie Daley has been fighting since 2002 when her breast cancer was first diagnosed. She has gone through a number of cancer treatments, and in December 2009, she began treatment for a tumor in her leg. In March of this year, doctors placed a titanium rod in her right leg to help support the bones.
Mayor Daley was in the ABC7 studio Friday morning discussing the gun turn-in program scheduled for the weekend. He did not talk about Mrs. Daley's cancer. But off camera, he did mention the Thursday event that he attended with his wife and seemed proud of her. With a big smile on his face, he said how pretty that tulip is that was named after her.
