Michael Smerconish: A DOSE OF HIS OWN ADVICE

4.24.08

Daily News Opinion Columnist

IN THE week before the primary, I guest-hosted Glenn Beck's TV show on "CNN Headline News," and took advantage of the opportunity to showcase Pennsylvania's political talent. I was pleased to welcome Mayor Nutter as a guest one day, and Gov. Rendell and ex-Gov. Tom Ridge on another.

But most memorable was the interview I did with Sen. Arlen Specter. The subject was his recent book, "Never Give In: Battling Cancer - and Politicians - in the Senate." It was April 15. I was in New York, he was on Capitol Hill. The interview was taped at 3 for a 7 p.m. airing.

We bantered for a bit, and I asked Sen. Specter about his numerous health misdiagnoses and successful battle against cancer (Hodgkin's disease), which he undertook very publicly in 2005. I've been a friend of Sen. Specter for two decades and was pleased to see him looking and sounding in such good spirits.

I regarded the interview as a victory lap for a man who had fought a difficult fight and won. We even joked about his hairline in the aftermath of chemotherapy.

"Once I was bald and pale and thin, I got more suggestions on my hairstyle than my public policy. And I thought of shaving my head and becoming a sex symbol," he joshed.

He looked fit, and when the interview ended, I wished him continued good health.

That night I sat in a Manhattan hotel room and watched the broadcast. No sooner had the segment featuring the senator ended than my BlackBerry vibrated. It was a message from the senator's son and my close friend, Shanin Specter. He thought I needed to see a statement his father's office had released at about 5:30 - just hours after our interview:

"Sen. Arlen Specter today announced that he has been diagnosed with an early recurrence of Hodgkin's disease . . . a cancer of the lymph system."

I was dumbfounded.

"Senator Specter's recurrence was diagnosed based on a routine follow-up PET scan . . . which showed small lymph nodes in his chest and abdomen. A follow-up biopsy of one of the chest lymph nodes was positive for recurrence. A bone- marrow biopsy was negative."

Quintessential Specter, I thought. He knew at 3 that he'd had a recurrence, but wasn't able to share the news because, as I later learned, he hadn't told his staff. And as I interviewed him about a battle I thought was over, he soldiered on with the knowledge that it wasn't. Just as he prescribed in his book.

Arlen Specter, cancer survivor, passionately endorses continuing with your lifestyle even in the face of a bad forecast. Or as he'd probably say, especially in light of some bad news.

And he should know: "I was once diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, which was a fatal disease. They were wrong," he told me on the Beck show. "I was once diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, given three to six weeks to live. And they were wrong. So I write in my book . . . get a second opinion. Don't give up hope."

And here he was, once again prepared to drag himself out of bed for months of chemotherapy, grueling committee schedules and abbreviated squash games.

You'd never have known it.

And, sure enough, a few hours later, Sen. Specter's oncologist cited the patient's "superb physical condition," and the statement promised that the senator would continue to perform every duty his office required of him.

Just as he had three years ago, when his job demanded that he play usher in the high-stakes political theater of Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

TWO DAYS after our TV encounter, I spoke with him again.

Now the entire world knew.

"As I've said, the tougher the going, the better I liked it because I had no time to think about myself.

"But my advice stands for everybody's situation, and obviously I'm going to follow my own advice. I'm going to stick to my schedule, my exercises, my routine. And taking my mind off of me is the best thing."

Never give in, indeed. *

Listen to Michael Smerconish weekdays 5-9 a.m. on the Big Talker, 1210/AM. Read him Sundays in the Inquirer. Contact him via the Web at www.mastalk.com.