Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) announced on Thursday that he has completed chemotherapy and that his cancer is in remission, declaring that “a new chapter begins.”
He announced the news in an open letter addressed to “America,” and shared a video on Twitter showing him ringing a bell to mark the milestone. Raskin revealed in December that he had been diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, which he at the time called “a serious but curable form of cancer.”
“Having now finished chemotherapy and rung the bell with my nurses and doctors, having a midterm PET scan report showing ‘negative’ for any discernible cancer cells, and having a preliminary diagnosis of being ‘in remission’ from diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with a 90% prognosis of no relapse, I am overwhelmed with gratitude and love,” Raskin wrote in his letter.
In a message accompanying his Twitter video, Raskin said he thanked the nurses, doctors and pharmacists at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital “who serve with splendid kindness—and saved my life over 5 months.”
“I finished 6 rounds of 5-day chemo sessions—which they organized so I didn’t have to miss votes or hearings—and I rang the bell! A new chapter begins,” he added.
In the video, Raskin said ringing the bell marked “a happy moment.”
News of Raskin’s cancer remission status came one week after the congressman said he was about to complete his final session of chemotherapy, noting that his doctors told him “the chemotherapy has extinguished the cancer cells, at least as far as they can tell.”
“It’s almost extinguished me in the process, but I’m hanging in there,” he said during a virtual event with the Progressive Change Institute last week. “I’m gonna make it through.”
The congressman continued to work in the Capitol throughout his treatment, often being seen wearing a head cover.
On Thursday, Raskin said he felt “love and gratitude” for his family, friends, constituents, colleagues and people throughout the country “who have reached out to me over the last five months with expressions of prayer, best wishes, concern, solidarity, sympathy and moral encouragement.”
He also recognized the “beautiful gifts” he received throughout his treatment, including bandanas, homemade scarves and sweaters, Capitol Police baseball caps, hospital scrubs, wool hats, chocolate chip cookies, mandel bread, pea soup, vegan matzoh ball soup, paintings, poems and letters.
In February, Steven Van Zandt — a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band and an actor from the television series “The Sopranos” — gave Raskin a head cover of the type Van Zandt is frequently seen wearing.
The musician and actor shared a photo of the two sporting head coverings in March.
Raskin on Thursday said he has “many things that I want to say to the people across America who have stood by me and helped carry me through this prolonged challenge,” and would “come to say them soon” once he recovers from his “still-exhausted and immuno-compromised condition.”
“Right now my hemoglobin and white blood cell counts are plunging from my final five-day round of chemotherapy, and I am afraid I lack the energy to properly thank you all and express the enormity of my feelings about the enduring beauty and promise of our country,” he said. “So another message will be coming soon to you all when I rebound from my still-exhausted and immuno-compromised condition.”
“In the meantime, I just want to send you my profound appreciation,” the congressman added.