Novak On His Brain Tumor

Now recovering from surgery to remove a cancerous brain tumor, long-time political columnist Robert Novak is taking his doctor's advice and doing what he does best: write. In a column today, Novak traces his first realization that something must be wrong when he struck a pedestrian in D.C. traffic and never knew it until he was flagged down by a bicyclist. The following day he got lost while driving to his dentist's office. At the urging of his daughter during a visit to her home in Massachusetts a few days later, he went to the hospital where his mass was discovered. Novak describes the outpouring of support he has received from all over since the news of his brain tumor came. He seems optimistic about his chances despite a prediction from his doctor that he probably had less than a year to live. As a three-time cancer survivor, he has reason for optimism. Novak takes a dig at the nasty liberal bloggers who've taken delight in his misfortune. "There are mad bloggers who profess to take delight in my distress, but there's no need to pay them attention in the face of such an outpouring of goodwill for me," Novak writes.