Former Senator Norm Coleman to have lung cancer surgery

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman says he will have surgery on his left lung July 15 in an effort to remove cancer there. 

Coleman will lose 15-20 percent of his lung capacity as a result of the surgery, he wrote in a lengthy Facebook post Tuesday afternoon.

Coleman wrote, “I feel great” and said he has traveled the world for work and continued to go to his cabin and fish since his initial 2018 diagnosis. He also detailed some of the struggles in his long cancer battle.

“It is not so much the physical toll as it is the mental one that I struggle with in the quiet moments of my life,” Coleman said. “Living inside your head is never a good thing. With cancer, it seems as if one cannot avoid it at times. I can’t avoid my cancer. But, I will not let it decide how I will live my life.”

Coleman recently survived a boating crash in northern Minnesota, in which he had to dive off his boat into the lake to avoid an oncoming boat.