Cancer strikes a North Texas congressman, but he says he will stay in D.C. and fight
Ron Wright never knew anything was wrong.
When the 66-year-old went in for a routine physical late last year — only because doctors said they wouldn’t renew his cholesterol medicine if he didn’t come in for an overdue checkup — he was stunned to learn what an X-ray showed.
Lung cancer.
“It was such a kick in the stomach,” the freshman Republican congressman from Arlington, a former smoker, said. “There were no symptoms.”
Wright, elected last year to replace the retiring Joe Barton of Ennis in the U.S. House, said he has been through radiation, chemotherapy and immunotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer and said more treatment is in his future.
He said his prognosis is good.
He credits his wife, Susan, and faith in God for getting him through months of treatment. He plans to run for re-election in 2020. A Democrat, Stephen Daniel, has already filed.
“I made the decision to not allow this disease to define me,” Wright said. “I have seen it happen so many times where someone gets a diagnosis and they are defined by that until the day they die. It’s all they think about.
“Obviously it adds a dimension and a challenge. I’m Ron Wright, husband, father, grandfather, congressman who is dealing with this challenge. I’m not Ron Wright, cancer victim.”
Wright, a lifelong Texan, represents the 6th congressional district that includes parts of east and southwest Fort Worth, most of Arlington and Mansfield and all of Ellis and Navarro counties. He is a former Arlington city councilman and former Tarrant County tax assessor collector.
Cancer treatment
Non-small cell lung cancer is the most common type of lung cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.
Wright has been getting treatment in Dallas and said he has missed as little work in Congress as possible.
The side effects of the treatment, he said, have been tough.
“Anyone who has gone through chemo knows what it’s like,” he said. “There have been days God picked me up and carried me because I didn’t have the strength.
“I won’t sugar-coat it,” he said. “I wouldn’t wish these treatments on anybody. But they’ve worked.”
When asked what stage the cancer was when it was detected, Wright said he preferred to focus on positive news: the prognosis.
“They are very confident they’ve got it under control in terms of it growing,” he said. “I’m not interested in maintaining it. I want to kill it, get it out of there.
“The prognosis is great. It has been a complete reversal in terms of what they found. I give God all the glory, and the doctors and medical technology.”
Looking ahead
A couple of years ago, Wright said he had a bad case of bronchitis and had X-rays. Nothing showed up in those, so he said the cancer must have developed since then.
He recently posted a message on Facebook about his medical challenges and received hundreds of well-wishes, many offering up prayers for him, from Republicans and Democrats alike.
“This makes how much I’ve seen you out and about in both DC and the district all the more impressive,” Texas Republican Party Chair James Dickey wrote. “May God bless you and your family and help you all through this trial. Thank you for your servant’s heart.”
As he has undergone treatment, Wright said he has maintained a steady schedule in Congress — including his committee schedules and times to speak on the House floor.
He said he missed one week for treatment and a few other votes here and there, but nothing “that would have mattered in terms of outcome.”
The side effects of treatment have been the biggest impact: abdominal discomfort and particularly the fatigue.
“It has been an ordeal, but nothing quite focuses the mind like one’s own mortality,” Wright said.
More than anything, Wright stresses that this diagnosis is not the end of his life.
“With a diagnosis like this, you don’t stop living, dreaming, trying to make a difference,” he said. “You don’t give up. You can still be effective in what you are doing, whatever it is.
“Cancer can be as much life affirming as it is life threatening.”
This story was originally published July 29, 2019 at 11:29 AM with the headline "Cancer strikes a North Texas congressman, but he says he will stay in D.C. and fight."
