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Sarah Huckabee Sanders Announces Successful Surgery to Remove Cancer

Spencer Brown
Spencer Brown  |  September 16, 2022 4:15 PM

Former White House Press Secretary and current GOP candidate for governor of Arkansas Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced that she underwent successful surgery to remove thyroid cancer after being diagnosed earlier in September.

"During a check-up earlier this month, my doctor ordered a biopsy on an area of concern in my neck and the test revealed that I had thyroid cancer," Sanders said in a statement released Friday afternoon. "Today, I underwent a successful surgery to remove my thyroid and surrounding lymph nodes and by the grace of God I am now cancer-free," the candidate likely to be the next governor of Arkansas reported. 

"I want to thank the Arkansas doctors and nurses for their world-class care, as well as my family and friends for their love, prayers, and support," Sanders continued. 

"I look forward to returning to the campaign trail soon. This experience has been a reminder that whatever battle you may be facing, don't lose heart," Sanders added. "As governor, I will never quit fighting for the people of our great state."

Sanders' doctor, John R. Sims of the CARTI Cancer Center in Little Rock, Arkansas, provided an update on her condition. "Sarah is currently recovering from surgery in which we removed her thyroid gland and some of the surrounding lymph nodes in her neck," Dr. Sims explained. "The surgery went extremely well, and I expect her to be back on her feet even within the next 24 hours," he added of the operation's effects. 

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Sanders' father, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, also shared the good news on Twitter:

According to Sanders' doctor, she had "Stage I papillary thyroid carcinoma," the most common type of thyroid cancer which, as Dr. Sims explained, means Sanders "has an excellent prognosis."

Dr. Sims added that Sanders "will need adjuvant treatment with radioactive iodine, as well as continued long term follow up," following the successful surgery, adding "it’s fair to say she’s now cancer free, and I don’t anticipate any of this slowing her down."

Huckabee has continued to out-raise her Democrat opponent in the Arkansas governor's race, and a recent survey from Echelon Insights has Trump's former press secretary polling with 62 percent support in the final stretch before November's general election.