Ex-US Rep. Souder says he's facing pancreatic cancer

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — Former U.S. Rep Mark Souder has disclosed that he has inoperable pancreatic cancer and will be undergoing chemotherapy.

The health update for Souder, 71, was posted to his Facebook page this week after he first revealed his cancer diagnosis on Jan. 15, The (Fort Wayne) Journal Gazette reported.

Souder’s post said that “unless changes happen, there is no cure.”

“The news overall was mostly not good, but there is some hope,” his latest post said. “Chemo will start soon.”

Souder, a Republican, was first elected to Congress representing northeastern Indiana in 1994. He won reelection seven times but resigned in May 2010 after admitting to an extramarital affair with a woman who worked in his congressional office.

Souder underwent surgery this month, and a biopsy revealed a large cancerous mass on his pancreas, he said in an earlier Facebook post.

“We accept God’s authority,” Souder’s latest post said. “We continue to ask for the wisdom for the doctors. But God’s Will be done.”