Georgia lawmaker to go home for hospice care

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Rep. Charlie Norwood, Georgia Republican, is leaving Washington to receive hospice care at home in Georgia, forgoing further treatment for lung cancer that has spread to his liver.

Norwood spokesman John Stone said yesterday that the seven-term Republican is not resigning from Congress but has decided to go home to Augusta to be with his family and “put it in the Lord’s hands.”

“He has spent three months just sick as a dog and finally just said, ‘That’s it. I’m going home,’ ” Mr. Stone said. “The goal now is to make him as comfortable as he can be … for as long as the Lord will let him stay with us, and nobody knows how long that will be.”

Mr. Stone said the congressman would re-evaluate the situation after returning home and that he was not ruling out further treatment if he feels better. Mr. Norwood’s congressional office will continue operating “as if he’s sitting in the next room,” Mr. Stone said.

Mr. Norwood, 65, received a lung transplant in 2004. He suffers from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic lung disease.

Last year, doctors discovered a small cancerous tumor on his non-transplanted lung. They removed the cancer with surgery but then discovered more on his liver when Mr. Norwood returned to Washington after easily winning re-election in November.

Mr. Norwood, a folksy dentist, never held public office before winning a seat in Congress in 1994.