Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan said Monday he will soon undergo surgery to repair damage caused by radiation treatment he received for his prostate cancer.
“With the help of God I’ll come through all right,” Farrakhan said to cheers from a 100-strong, multiracial audience that gathered at a press conference to hear more about his economic development goals stemming from the Million Family March held last week in Washington.
“In fact, the doctors are saying it’s a miracle I’m even able to stand here and talk to you,” he said in the Salaam Restaurant on Chicago’s South Side.
Farrakhan said the radiation treatment produced a growing, ulcerated area that has hemorrhaged. As a result, the 67-year-old minister told the crowd, he will need a seven-hour operation. The date and site of the surgery was not announced.
During his remarks, which lasted more than two hours, Farrakhan also encouraged people to vote, made a vague call for justice’ among both Arab nations and Israel, and tried to explain his comments during a recent appearance on “Meet the Press.” Although that TV appearance was intended to promote the inclusive Million Family March, Farrakhan described American Jews and blacks as having a “master-slave” relationship, with Jews controlling black athletes, artists and professionals.
On Monday, Farrakhan said that sometimes his words, although intending to bring about positive changes, have been prompted by his anger and bitterness about the poor conditions of many African-Americans.
“You have to be careful how you call the people to atonement lest you turn them off by the ugly manner of your speech,” he said Monday. “You can’t just stand up and say `I am a sent man’ and then fall down in vile speech. … I’m learning all the time. I’m growing all the time.”
In 1991, Farrakhan was first diagnosed with prostate cancer. Initially given hormone treatments, the minister was then implanted in 1994 with small radioactive “seeds,” a cancer therapy that delivers high doses of radiation to a specific area in an attempt to kill the cancer.
John Alverdy, a general surgeon with the University of Chicago Hospitals, said Farrakhan is probably suffering from “radiation necrosis,” where the tissue wall shared with the prostate becomes so irritated by the radiation treatments it can create a potentially life-threatening condition by causing heavy bleeding.
Surgery is usually a last recourse for the less than 5 percent of prostate cancer patients who do not respond to measures such as a less-irritating low-fiber diet or antibiotics, Alverdy said.
“Complications of the procedure could be substantial,” he said.
Nation of Islam officials described the surgery as the last step Farrakhan needs to make before returning to full health.
