Elizabeth Edwards: Gives New Meaning to the 'Stand by Your Man' Philosophy

The country is in an uproar. Democratic runner in the presidential race John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth have just announced that Elizabeth's breast cancer has returned. This time stage 4 metastasis disease. But the campaign crusades and Elizabeth swears she is not sickly, nor does she look as much, but she will stand by her man. To most people this would be a death sentence, but Elizabeth is going to live her life as planned regardless of her current health status.

Am I the only one that sees something wrong with this picture? To me, John Edwards has no business running for local council, never mind running for President of the United States. Elizabeth states she is ready for the running and up to the challenge. To me, this makes it glaringly apparent that in the Edwards household, the Presidential race is the top priority, and the terminal illness takes a back seat. The message that I perceive is 'We are still running for President (and maybe a few doctor's appointments will be thrown in the schedule).'

Let's have a look at the timeline of Mrs. Edwards's horrific battle:

November 3, 2004: John Edwards and John Kerry concede the presidential race. Elizabeth Edwards reveals she has just been diagnosed with breast cancer, having discovered a lump in her right breast during the last week of the campaign. According to the Associated Press, the family believes it is 'beatable'. Sixteen weeks of chemotherapy followed.

March 14, 2005: Surgical removal of the lump followed by six weeks of radiation.

April 10, 2005: John Edwards tells the Arizona Republic that "Elizabeth is doing very very well" despite the fact she has been 'spending a lot of time at the doctors' since the election. (Spending a lot of time at the doctors actually means she had just finished 16 weeks of chemo and was in the middle of her radiation treatment at this time)

June 26, 2005: ThePilot.com reported that Elizabeth indicated in an email her treatment was complete and she felt better every day.

February 27, 2006: John Edwards tells the world his wife is doing great, she had some tests done at Christmas but overall she is doing very well.

December 28, 2006: The candidacy for the Presidential race is announced by John Edwards.

March 22, 2007: Elizabeth and John in a joint announcement revealed that her cancer had returned, this time to a mass located on her rib, but the Presidential campaign would continue. John reassures the country 'Any place I need to be with Elizabeth, I will be there...'

The message the Edwards' keep giving the country is that they feel so incredibly optimistic. They keep getting good news and more encouragement from test results. Dr. Lisa Carey, Elizabeth's doctor, has described the tumor as stage 4 metastasis disease. Generally this type of cancer is fatal, particularly at the stage 4 point, but her doctor's seem to think that proper monitoring and treatment could give her years or even decades of life. Dr. Toby Green, a breast cancer surgeon in Hackensack, NJ at the Hackensack University Medical Center has been reported to say they do not see this as an incurable disease, but more as a chronic illness, "She may see him through his entire presidency, should he win."

Did anyone notice the 'may' in that sentence? According to the American Cancer Society, 5 year survival rates for stage 4 breast cancer are only 20 percent. That means the chances of her actually making it through his Presidency, should he win, would be 20%. Yet the Edwards' plug on, continually referring to this terminal disease as a 'red flag' and nothing that can't be dealt with. Even Elizabeth states that "I am as ready as any person can be for that (the Presidential race)" despite the fact that doctors have noted she definitely has a rocky year ahead. I have to wonder how so, when any other healthy person would consider it a challenge to support a spouse during a Presidential campaign. How can she feel as ready as any of the rest of us when she has the added stress of treating an incurable illness?

It depends entirely on what treatment she will receive as to how rocky Elizabeth's year will be. It has been noted repeatedly throughout this announcement and follow up that the side effects from the chemotherapy and radiation she will receive are not as bad as some in the past have been. Also, depending on what kind of cancer they find, she may end up on hormone treatments for years to come. The doctors continue to reiterate that she will be dealing with this disease the rest of her life and she will be intermittently on and off therapy for the duration of her illness.

The Edwards revealed in an interview with Katie Couric on 60 minutes that they received a positive bone scan, the presence of another tumor, on Elizabeth's hip just recently. They stressed in the interview that this was not a decision taken lightly. When responding to Katie's consistent questions on how ready they really may feel, their consistent answer was that 'we all have to die sometime' and they felt blessed to know what exactly she will die from when most of us do not have that 'luxury'. Katie questioned Edwards' ability to maintain a Presidency when there is a strong possibility of 'distractions' but he reiterated time and again throughout the interview that his ability to run the country will not be distracted by Elizabeth's illness, or even possible death.

There are two noted camps on either side of this issue. Many people feel that Elizabeth is being very brave and plugging on despite her illness, while others feel an air of selfishness on her husband's side. The candidates of the Presidential election are consistently scrutinized for their family values, marital strengths, and core beliefs. There is absolutely no argument that I applaud Elizabeth's desire to not let the cancer get her down, to not give up, and to live life to its fullest despite her terminal diagnosis. I think she is incredibly brave for even going under the spotlight during what is undoubtedly a very dark time for her. However, when it comes to John Edwards, and his potential for the Presidency, I just do not 'believe' a man's priorities are all that put together if his work comes before his wife's health. I would have a lot more respect for Edwards if he endorsed the 'stand by your wife' mentality, and then came back to the Presidency when we could be assured that it was his true focus. At least those are things I would be thinking of when it came time to vote.