Texas Democrat on rare cancer diagnosis: ‘Wondered how much longer’ he’d have with his kids

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) discussed his rare cancer diagnosis in a Monday Twitter thread, saying he originally found out he had the disease after a car wreck in Spain.

In the series of posts, Castro, a member of Congress since 2013, said he initially wondered how much time he’d have left with his children.

“My younger daughter turned two months old on the day of my accident. I wondered how much longer my kids would have their dad around,” Castro wrote.

Castro had surgery in February to remove tumors from his gastrointestinal tract.

“I could hardly pronounce “neuroendocrine” tumor, a rare form of cancer, when I got to MD Anderson in mid-July 2022,” Castro tweeted. “But I knew that any tumor spreading across your body isn’t good. I hadn’t told many people about my diagnosis even as so many things raced through my mind.” 

Castro wrote that he found out he was diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumor after sustaining injuries when the driver of his car hit a boar that ran into the road while he was at a summit in Spain. Castro now says that incident saved his life.

A neuroendocrine tumor forms from cells that release hormones into the blood in response to a signal from the nervous system, according to the National Cancer Institute. Neuroendocrine tumors may make higher-than-normal amounts of hormones, which can cause many different symptoms.

“Between two languages I heard — ‘My radiologist called me. He said he believes he sees two neuroendocrine tumors that have spread from your small intestine to your liver. I hate to be the bearer of bad news.’ I asked some questions and then she left,” Castro wrote. “I never got a bill.”

Castro, 48, is one of the multiple lawmakers to announce a cancer diagnosis in recent months.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) shared last December that he had been diagnosed with a diffuse large B cell lymphoma, calling it “a serious but curable form of cancer.”

Raskin, a former member of the now-defunct House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol, shared in April that his cancer is in remission. 

Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) announced earlier this year he was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, a serious but curable form of cancer. Kildee announced last month that his cancer is “gone” after undergoing surgery for it.