I'm not going to edit the diary now, it is a piece of history.
I'm devestated for the kids, especially Emma Claire and Jack (who are the ages of my two girls), but inspired that they are going forward.
I'm also going outside to enjoy the day, my dog, and later my kids, my wife, and my students and proclaiming it a "Prayers and Thoughts for Elizabeth Day with No Damn Politics About It" Day.
Today, Thursday, 22 March, Senator John Edwards and Elizabeth Edwards will hold a press conference at 12:00pm at the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
The press conference will be covered live at http://www.c-span.org/
C-SPAN just said said again seconds ago "We'll make every effort to carry it live." It is live on C-SPAN 3 and C-SPAN Radio (as of 12:04 pm).
UPDATE: JohnEdwards.com passes along that this local station will have live feed from NBC 17: http://www.nbc17.com/...
Right now there is streaming there of setup of conference (11:59 am) I've got it and the CSPAN 3 streaming on.
Ellicatt reports in the comments around 12:05 pm.
CNN and MSNBC are going to carry it.
There is also a link on the MSNBC home page (scroll about 1/3 down the page) for a live stream if you are having trouble with the nbc17 link.
The Information we currently have as of 11:00 am:
Nedra Pickler, John Edwards to Discuss Wife's Health, Associated Press, Wednesday, 21 March 2007, 11:21 PM
WASHINGTON -- Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards accompanied his wife, Elizabeth, who has been treated for breast cancer, on a doctor's visit Wednesday. His campaign said they would hold a news conference in their hometown Thursday to discuss her health.
Campaign officials refused to answer any questions about what the Edwardses learned at the doctor's appointment or how it might affect his candidacy. Edwards had cut short a trip to Iowa Tuesday night to be with his wife Wednesday but still attended a barbecue fundraiser later in the evening in their hometown of Chapel Hill, N.C.
The campaign had said that Mrs. Edwards, 57, had a follow-up appointment to a routine test she had Monday. The campaign explained that she had similar follow-ups in the past but they always resulted in a clean bill of health.
Kate Phillips and John Broder, The New York Times -- The Caucus Blog, "Edwards and Wife to Hold New Conference After Medical News:
... Kate Bedingfield, a spokeswoman for the Edwards campaign, would not say what the gist of the news conference would be.
Update [by Broder]: Mrs. Edwards, in a brief interview from her home in Chapel Hill last night, said she and Mr. Edwards would hold a news conference Thursday night about her health, but declined to elaborate. "I’m still here," she said.
Jennifer Palmieri, communications director for the campaign, said that she would not provide any details in advance of Thursday’s press conference.
We were told not to assume the worst.
Rawstory, Edwards may temporarily suspend campaign due to wife's health, 21 March.
The latest information on Thursday morning from various sources is that the Edwards campaign is expected to be temporarily suspended due to some health problems but it may just result in Edwards cancelling a few appearances.
Update I: Politico:
John Edwards is suspending his campaign for President, and may drop out completely, because his wife has suffered a recurrence of the cancer that sickened her in 2004, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, an Edwards friend told The Politico.
At a minimum he's going to suspend" the campaign, the source said. "Nobody knows precisely how serious her recurrence is. It’ll be another couple of days before there’s complete clarity."
"For him right now he has one priority which is her health and the security of the two young children," said the friend.
As for the campaign, "You don't shut this machine off completely, but everything will go on hold."
mdgarcia reports in comments
CNN Reporting: Breaking News (but it's still just "according to .. politico.com"
Former Sen. John Edwards announced today he is suspending his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination because his wife, Elizabeth, has had a recurrence of breast cancer, according to the Web site Politico.com.
Other diaries on the topic:
Bcgntn, John Edwards to Discuss Wife's Health, Campaign, and Country
Kos, What the heck is this all about?
LIVE: chuckles1, At the Edwards Press Conference
Updates and Live Blogging Forthcoming..
Update Around 10: Still waiting, at 12:18 pm. Viewing the NBC17 live feed and listening to CSPAN 3 feed (they're saying they're going to NC as soon as they come out).
THEY ARE WALKING TO THE PODIUM NOW at 12:21 pm.
Update 11: My transcript of the conference taken from my comments below and spelling and grammar improved (and Ellicat's notes too -- thanks):
John Edwards: We came today to talk about Elizabeth and her health situation. Monday, Elizabeth went to doctor, because she felt pain on left side. X-rays were taken, results showed she may have fracture on left side and something suspecious on rib.
I was in Iowa, Elizabeth called me and told me there were going to be followup tests on Wednesday. I flew home (cancelled event in Indianola, Iowa). On Wednesday Elizabeth had tests in Chappell Hill, NC. A bone study done that made suspecion about rib on right side more intense. So, a biopsy done of rib. This biopsy showed malignent cancer had returned. CT Scan to study soft tissue was taken that showed very little cancer.
The net result is "cancer is back" it's largely confined in the bone, which is a good thing. Dr. Lisa Carey is in charge of E's care and will answer question. "Her cancer is back .. we are very optimistic .. we've been through stuggles and know that they key is to keep our heads up and be strong" ... It is completely treatable. Minimal presense of cancer in other places. Small size of tumor. Dr. Carry and all of us in the family are optimistic. Treatment can mean many years. Elizabeth's (now bone) cancer cannot be cured, she'll have it all her life. Many patients in similar circumstances have lived many years. You treat it (like diabetes) and that's what we intend to do. I intend to do the same thing I've always done with Elizabeth. We will be in this every step of the way together.
Elizabeth Edwards: I appreciate that we delayed telling you because (we wanted to tell family first). We have explained it to the kids. The children are disappointed, that I won't lose my hair this time. They and we are hopeful. We're blessed to have extraordinary doctors. We will keep a positive attitude like we did before. We always look to the silver lining, its what we do. This is what happends to every cancer survivor -- when you get something suspicious, you go into alarm mode. There were times yesterday we thought that it would be worse, but with more test results we feel incredibly optimistic. I expect to do next week, next year to be able to do all the same things I did last week. I don't expect my life to be significantly different (except I'll be seeing Dr. Carey more often). As she [Dr. Carey] says there is a "low volume cancer" in bones. I'm completely asymtomatic. I'm not feeling pain....
I'm lucky that I cracked this rib...might not have been the case 2 or 3 years from now when I became symptomatic.
Questions and Anwers (hard to hear the reporters, there questions are usually obvious from the answers)
John: The campaign goes on. The campaign goes on strongly.
We have no intention of cowering in the corner. We leave this press conference to go to New York and Boston and tomorrow to California.
Elizabeth: I'm ready for the campaign, I have all the energy in the world, I don't look or feel sickly. My medication might make me sick or tired, but the kids will make me tired too (I am 57). So some times I may step back, if I get tired, but right now I don't feel any of that. One of the reasons I feel strongly about going forward, is because I'm proud of the campaign ... the substance of the campaign ... the reasons he wants to be president. It's not about him, it's about the people that he's met in these past years, the people I've met in the past few years. Is this yet another hurdle? Yes, but I've seen other people move forward. And John's campaign is too important. I cannot deprive the American people of John just becuase I want to set at home and mope, even though I feel OK.
John: Elizabeth won't say this, but yesterday was not a good day for us [when the diagnosis looked much worse]. We had a conversation yesterday. All Elizabeth wanted to talk about was me, the kids, and the country. And there was no one else there, just me, no spin. She showed no concern about herself. This is the most unselfsih person I've every known.
Elizabeth: We have a new house, you might have heard of it (chuckles). I hurt her back working on the house -- picking up a chest. I showed the place it hurt to John and we heard a pop in my ribs. That pop of a rib was "fortuatess" since that got me to get the X-ray that found the cancer.
John: Elizabeth and me discussed this openly. As you might guess, I don't mandate anything with Elizabeth, we talked about the campaign, but there wasn't a great deal of consideration given to quitting the campaign since the doctor said nothing in the new diagnosis demonstrated that campaigning would hurt Elizabeth's health.
Elizabeth: John asked the doctor, "Will campaigning make a difference with Elizabeth's health?" Doctor said no! We just don't want to sit and mope around.
John: Anytime and anyp lace that I need to be with Elizabeth, I will be there. If she's not with me, which she will be most of the time, I will be there.
Elizabeth: This time the treatment will be a less dibiliating chemotherapy.
Question: Mentally, how do you stay focused with this going on?
John: Anyone who wants to be President of the United States, needs to understand that there will be high-pressure times. If you want to be President of the United States, you've got to be ready to deal with a crisis. We've had tough times before [Wade's death, the original breast cancer], and we've gotten through them.
Elizabeth: John has a reserve, and unbelievable toughness [she goes on for several sentences, but this is the gist].
John and Elizabeth: Thank y'all very much.
Long Live Elizabeth Edwards!!!