Sen. John McCain sent out a Tweet Monday saying that he was "feeling well" in his battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer and planned to return to the Senate after the holidays.
"Thanks to everyone for your support and words of encouragement," said McCain, an Arizona Republican and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "I'm feeling well and looking forward to returning to work after the holidays."
The 81-year-old McCain went home to Arizona for Christmas over the weekend following a stay at Walter Reed Medical Center in Maryland for complications from radiation and chemotherapy treatments.
McCain will be unavailable for the vote on President Donald Trump's tax bill, which he supports, but Republicans appear to have enough votes to pass it without him.
When he entered Walter Reed, his daughter, Meghan McCain, Tweeted that "My father is doing well and we are all looking forward to spending Christmas together in Arizona."
President Trump told reporters Sunday that he had spoken to McCain's wife, Cindy McCain. "I wished her well. I wish John well," said Trump, who has had his differences with McCain on a wide range of issues.
He said the couple was headed back to Arizona "but I understand he'll come if we ever needed his help, which hopefully we won't" on the tax bill.
"But the word is John will come back if we need his vote. It's too bad. He's going through a very tough time, there's no question about it. But he will come back if we need his vote," Trump said.
In Arizona, McCain will undergo treatment and physical therapy at the Mayo Clinic, according to his staff.
McCain received a diagnosis earlier this year of glioblastoma, an aggressive, malignant form of brain cancer that can cause headaches, seizures, blurred vision and other symptoms.
In a statement, the senator's office provided an assessment from Dr. Mark Gilbert, chief of neuro-oncology at the National Institutes of Health's National Cancer Institute:
"Senator McCain has responded well to treatment he received at Walter Reed Medical Center for a viral infection and continues to improve," Gilbert said.
"An evaluation of his underlying cancer shows he is responding positively to ongoing treatment," Gilbert said
-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
