Minister of Housing recovering from prostate cancer in the US

michael finnegan

He is known for his fiery speeches in the House of Representatives and at the last House Sitting for the Budget debate, he did not show any sign of illness.  But tonight, Minister of Housing, Michael Finnegan is in Detroit, Michigan recovering from a prostate cancer surgery at the Harper University Hospital.  News Five spoke with the Minister who says he is doing well and his plans upon his return home are to be more actively involved with the role of the Belize Cancer Society.

Michael Finnegan, Minister of Housing

“I was diagnosed in February and I had the operation for it done on the twenty-fifth of April to remove the prostate from my body.”

Marion Ali

“How are you doing now?”

Michael Finnegan

“I am doing I think as good as I can but I will let you speak to my doctor. But first of all, I want to say a big thank you to Dr. Michael Pitts who basically brought me to Detroit to look after this problem about over a year and a half ago because he believed, as my medical doctor, that something was wrong and the only way it could have been found out is through biopsy in the United States and he advised me to do the biopsy in the United States because I didn’t want my whole business spread in the streets of Belize City or in the country before I decide now to do it. That’s why the biopsy was done in the States.  I think that I can help to fight prostate cancer or any cancer to help Belizeans to be aware of this dreaded disease.”

Minister Finnegan’s Internist, Dr. Errol Elrington, said he thinks that Finnegan is on his way to a full recovery.

Dr. Errol Elrington, Michael Finnegan’s Internist

“It’s an excellent prognosis because the prostate was removed successfully. The procedure that was done is a new procedure.  It’s been around and tested but it’s relatively new. It uses the DaVinchi robot. They make several small holes on the abdomen then the instruments, they remove, dissect out the prostate and then they reattach all the tubes. This is different from opening the abdomen with a big old cut so this helps them to recover much faster.  In his case, the cancer itself was found by the pathologist to be totally within the prostate itself, had not left the prostate, not gone up, no extension so because of that we think the prognosis is excellent but we will still do the appropriate surveillance, which means we will do certain things every few months or every year to make sure.”

Finnegan had undergone a surgery on his throat two years ago to remove a mass, but he says the two illnesses are not related.  Finnegan is not yet certain when he and his wife, Diane will return home.