John McCain's son Jack says dad 'sounds better than the day before'

CLOSE

Jack McCain, Sen. John McCain’s oldest biological son, discusses his dad’s health and describes him as a cockroach, saying “he’s hard to kill.” He speaks with Arizona Republic reporter Kaila White.

PHOENIX — Despite fighting aggressive brain cancer for at least the last six months, Sen. John McCain is still fighting hard and progressing every day, his son Jack said in an interview Tuesday. 

“I talk to him about once a day on the phone, and every time I talk to him he sounds better than the day before,” Jack McCain told The Arizona Republic. 

“He is a very strong human being with the type of will that I have not seen paralleled anywhere else, and I have no doubts that he’s going to be fine.”

More: McCain ‘headed back to Washington’ after the holidays, says Arizona governor

More: Doctor: McCain’s setback ‘normal’ during brain cancer treatment

In July, John McCain, R-Ariz., shocked the nation when he revealed that, at 80 years old, he had been diagnosed with brain cancer.

The cancer, glioblastoma, was discovered during cranial surgery to remove a blood clot above his left eye. It is a typically malignant and aggressive cancer, with a median survival rate of 14.6 months.

“The diagnosis he has is not a good one. But of all of the things that have happened in this man’s life, of all of the times that his life could have ended in the ways it could have ended, this is by far one of the least threats to him and that’s kind of how he views it,” Jack McCain said.

Sen. John McCain returns to Arizona, will miss vote on tax bill

More: Sen. John McCain returns to Arizona, will miss vote on tax bill

Although John McCain, now 81, has faced setbacks including injuring his Achilles heel last fall because of steroids he is taking in treatment, Jack McCain said he believes his father will overcome. 

“He is more than double my age and can outpace me in almost everything,” the younger McCain said. “I have absolutely zero doubt that this is something he can not only beat but conquer.”

Follow Kaila White on Twitter: @kailawhite

More: ‘The View’: Joe Biden tells Meghan McCain, ‘If anyone can make it, your dad can’

More: They did! Meghan McCain, co-host of ‘The View,’ has married Ben Domenech

More: McCain blasts Army for considering recruits with history of self-mutilation, vows action

More: Sen. John McCain treated for cancer therapy side effects, tear in Achilles tendon

More: Sen. John McCain: Doctors gave me ‘poor prognosis’ on cancer fight

More: McCain’s type of brain cancer vexes doctors, but emerging therapies are on the horizon

More: McCain, battling cancer, returns to Senate and casts critical health care vote

More: McCain’s public focus is back on work, not cancer

More: Meghan McCain tweets photo of ‘amazing hike with dad’ after senator’s brain-cancer diagnosis

More: Sen. John McCain: ‘I’ll be back soon’

More: John McCain’s cancer: What is glioblastoma?

More: Sen. John McCain has brain tumor, doctors say

Post to Facebook

Posted!

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.

Republic presidential hopefuls (from left) former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif. pose on stage prior to the Univision Republican Presidential Candidate Forum at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida on Dec. 9, 2007. 
Associated Press
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., (center) speaks about immigration-reform legislation as outlined by the Senate’s bipartisan “Gang of Eight” that would create a path for the nation’s 11 million unauthorized immigrants to apply for U.S. citizenship, on April 18, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Gang of Eight members flanking McCain are (from left): Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill.; Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.; Robert Menendez, D-N.J.; Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; and Michael Bennet, D-Colo. 
Associated Press

• 1 of 123
• 2 of 123
• 3 of 123
• 4 of 123
• 5 of 123
• 6 of 123
• 7 of 123
• 8 of 123
• 9 of 123
• 10 of 123
• 11 of 123
• 12 of 123
• 13 of 123
• 14 of 123
• 15 of 123
• 16 of 123
• 17 of 123
• 18 of 123
• 19 of 123
• 20 of 123
• 21 of 123
• 22 of 123
• 23 of 123
• 24 of 123
• 25 of 123
• 26 of 123
• 27 of 123
• 28 of 123
• 29 of 123
• 30 of 123
• 31 of 123
• 32 of 123
• 33 of 123
• 34 of 123
• 35 of 123
• 36 of 123
• 37 of 123
• 38 of 123
• 39 of 123
• 40 of 123
• 41 of 123
• 42 of 123
• 43 of 123
• 44 of 123
• 45 of 123
• 46 of 123
• 47 of 123
• 48 of 123
• 49 of 123
• 50 of 123
• 51 of 123
• 52 of 123
• 53 of 123
• 54 of 123
• 55 of 123
• 56 of 123
• 57 of 123
• 58 of 123
• 59 of 123
• 60 of 123
• 61 of 123
• 62 of 123
• 63 of 123
• 64 of 123
• 65 of 123
• 66 of 123
• 67 of 123
• 68 of 123
• 69 of 123
• 70 of 123
• 71 of 123
• 72 of 123
• 73 of 123
• 74 of 123
• 75 of 123
• 76 of 123
• 77 of 123
• 78 of 123
• 79 of 123
• 80 of 123
• 81 of 123
• 82 of 123
• 83 of 123
• 84 of 123
• 85 of 123
• 86 of 123
• 87 of 123
• 88 of 123
• 89 of 123
• 90 of 123
• 91 of 123
• 92 of 123
• 93 of 123
• 94 of 123
• 95 of 123
• 96 of 123
• 97 of 123
• 98 of 123
• 99 of 123
• 100 of 123
• 101 of 123
• 102 of 123
• 103 of 123
• 104 of 123
• 105 of 123
• 106 of 123
• 107 of 123
• 108 of 123
• 109 of 123
• 110 of 123
• 111 of 123
• 112 of 123
• 113 of 123
• 114 of 123
• 115 of 123
• 116 of 123
• 117 of 123
• 118 of 123
• 119 of 123
• 120 of 123
• 121 of 123
• 122 of 123
• 123 of 123

Last SlideNext Slide

Article source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~/521587492/0/usatodaycomwashington-topstories~John-McCainaposs-son-Jack-says-dad-apossounds-better-than-the-day-beforeapos/