Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo said on Thursday his doctors have told him the chemotherapy he will undergo to treat his lymphatic cancer won't impede his ability to govern. Lugo, a former Roman Catholic bishop, last week was diagnosed as suffering non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer that originates in the lymphatic system, the disease-fighting network spread throughout the body, according to Reuters. Speculation had arisen in Paraguay about whether Lugo would be able to continue leading the soy-exporting country with a long history of political instability. "I have consulted the doctors repeatedly about how much chemotherapy I will need in the next few months, and how that might affect my mandate, and they all said that I could proceed as normal and that is a relief," Lugo said in his first written statement since being diagnosed with the cancer. Lugo, 59, has been in Brazil since Tuesday for further medical tests and was to undergo his first chemotherapy session on Thursday, according to Roberto Kalil Filho, one of the physicians taking care of the Paraguayan president. Lugo's doctors had initially said that all the chemotherapy sessions would be carried out in Paraguay and, according to one aide, on weekends. Frederico Costa, one of the doctors who treated the president, said he will travel to the Paraguayan capital Asuncion with Lugo to monitor his response to the chemotherapy. The treatment is likely to consist of six sessions over four to six months. "All his bodily functions are intact. We believe that the chemotherapy will be very well tolerated and that it should not impede his ability to lead a normal life or conduct his duties," Costa said.
