Senator’s extramarital affair that worsened wife’s battle with cancer

Popular United States attorney Elizabeth Edwards felt a lump in her breast while examining herself before the bathroom mirror in her Radisson Hotel suite in Wisconsin on October 21, 2004.

Ten years earlier after undergoing a mammogram, a harmless fibrous cyst had been discovered in her breast before being surgically extracted.

The latest lump was clearly larger than the previous one, but as she felt its smooth contour, she was convinced this had to be another cyst.

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For years, Elizabeth had made the excuses many people make for not taking a breast cancer examination, thus unknowingly fomenting a misfortune.

One of her excuses was raising two young children, Wade and Cate, and running a politically busy household.

Her family had moved to Washington DC from Raleigh, North Carolina, four years earlier, and she hadn't found a doctor there.

She decided to postpone the next mammogram to the following week, because it was less than two weeks to the intriguing presidential contest that pitted John Kerry, a Democrat, against George W. Bush, a Republican.

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Elizabeth’s husband, North Carolina Senator John Edwards, was Kerry's running mate. Having several campaign events scheduled, Elizabeth was convinced that a negative health result would derail her party's momentum.

Four days before the presidential election, a tormented Elizabeth landed in Raleigh and was driven to a nearby radiology lab for the test, after an examination by her doctor, Wells Edmundson.

The ultrasound that followed the mammogram was calamitous. The lump had grown and was glowing slippery green on the ultrasound monitor.

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The technician in charge called in the radiologist and he insisted on Elizabeth having a needle biopsy to confirm the existence of breast cancer.

However, from his experience in breast cancer screening, he sensed the case was too advanced. Elizabeth decided to wait for the election results to be declared before informing her husband.

Eight years earlier, her son, Wade, had been killed in a car crash, and Edwards and their daughter Cate, had been through emotional turmoil.

She did not wish to expose them to more grief by revealing her cancerous lump. After almost 30 years of marriage, she knew exactly how Edwards would react.

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As soon as he heard, he would insist that they drop everything else and take care of her illness.

On Election Day (November 2, 2004), Elizabeth discovered blood in her urine in her hotel room in Des Moines, Iowa. She immediately knew she would be diagnosed with breast cancer and sobbed repeatedly.

Bush’s win worsened her situation. On November 3, 2004, the day Kerry conceded defeat, Elizabeth was officially diagnosed with breast cancer.

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Saving Graces: Finding Solace and Strength from Friends and Strangers covers Elizabeth’s suffering while undergoing treatment, and the unbearable toll it had on her and family.

And on December 28, 2006, as she endured chemotherapy, Edwards announced his presidential candidacy.

The following year on December 7, 2007, US tabloid National Enquirer broke the news about an affair involving Edwards and his campaign videographer, Rielle Hunter.

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The story sounded too ludicrous to be true. However, in the thick of the campaign in July 2008, the mainstream media picked up the story.

Edwards had a clandestine affair with Rielle and they had a daughter named Quinn.

To cover up his affair and his love child, he convinced his campaign aide, Andrew Young, to claim to be Quinn's father.

Andrew, along with his wife Cheri and three children, would travel around the country with Rielle.

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All the while, the National Enquirer would be hot on the trail of Edwards, the Youngs, and Rielle. Photographs and front-page exclusives would follow.

Owing to the media pursuits, Elizabeth blamed Andrew for the problems her husband was facing.

Edwards’ affair was damaging to his loving wife, who was still recuperating from the depression that resulted from the loss of their son.

She was further fighting to stay alive from the side effects of chemotherapy and malignant cancer.

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Edwards’ history of compassion was impeccable. That's why his unfaithfulness towards Elizabeth while she fought cancer was baffling.

In the course of the drama, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton defeated Edwards in his North Carolina backyard during the Democratic primaries on January 26, 2008.

Barrack had 55.4 per cent of the vote, Hillary 26.5, and Edwards 17.6 per cent.

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In August 2008, Edwards belatedly admitted having an affair and a child with Rielle.

Elizabeth separated from him while on her deathbed. She died on December 7, 2010, after a seven-year battle with breast cancer.

The writer is a novelist, Big Brother Africa 2 Kenyan representative and founder of Jeff’s Fitness Centre (@jeffbigbrother).