Hogan undergoes additional cancer treatment

Gov. Larry Hogan was back in Baltimore on Monday undergoing chemotherapy treatment.

The treatment at the University of Maryland Medical Center is part of ongoing maintenance following a highly public battle with an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, according to Matt Clark, a Hogan spokesman.

Clark confirmed the treatment in response to questions from a reporter.

Hogan was at the hospital for “several hours this morning and back just after lunch,” according to Clark.

Clark said the governor has undergone at least one other treatment since making his announcement in November. Clark said Hogan continues to undergo routine checkups to ensure the cancer has not returned.

“Only the governor can provide specific updates on his tests and his health but he has been very transparent about it,” Clark said.

When asked if the lack of any public announcement about test meant that the governor’s health was essentially unchanged since November, Clark said, “I think that’s safe to say.

This is the not the first such treatment since the governor announced in November that he was “100 percent cancer free.”

Three months ago, Hogan acknowledged that his fight was not over, saying that while the news “couldn’t be any better but it does not mean that I am cured.”

“It will take months for my body to recover from the chemotherapy, and there’s also a chance that the cancer could return, so I have completed the aggressive chemotherapy treatment schedule and I will begin a monthly ongoing regimen of preventative maintenance that will lower the risk of recurrence,” Hogan said.

Dr. Aaron Rapoport, one of the governor’s physicians, said in November that Hogan is in “full remission” but that both he and his doctors will need to remain on guard for any return of the disease.

Hogan made his treatment and visits with other cancer patients part of regular and sometimes very personal social media posts last year.

HIs maintenance treatments by contrast have been a quieter affair.

Clark said the governor remains transparent about his health but acknowledged the shorter durations of time spent in the hospital are getting less public attention.

“These treatments are very different from what he did before,” Clark said. “The treatments last year, he would spends four or five days and nights in a hospital undergoing treatment and visiting with other patients. This, he just goes in for a few hours and gets, by comparison, a relatively brief treatment.”