Oregon Public Broadcasting

Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed says he feels great despite a new diagnosis of kidney cancer. Reed will have his left kidney removed on Monday. The three-term Republican said the cancer was discovered after he experienced blood in the urine. Antibiotics cleared up the problem, but his doctors decided to investigate further.“So they were checking various organs and then finally had a CAT scan of the kidney and said, ‘whoa there's a tumor and not only a tumor it's a two the three inch tumor,' so it's a pretty sizeable one on my left kidney," he said.The cancerous kidney will be removed through minimally invasive surgery and Reed should be back at work after two weeks of recovery. His Assistant Secretary of State will stand-in for him during his absence. Reed is a patient of Group Health. He says the medical co-op's emphasis on preventive care was key to the early detection of his cancer before it spread to other organs.