Elizabeth Edwards' situation

She's got Stage 4 breast cancer, which is the final stage. Her doctor said that this kind of cancer is "heterogenous," meaning that some people who get it respond well to treatment, but others don't. It is not curable, only manageable at best.

He's staying in the presidential race. I don't understand this decision, frankly. His wife is dying. She looks healthy now, but the breast cancer is in her bones now, and she's never going to be well. She was quite noble and brave at the presser, saying -- and saying convincingly -- that she strongly believes her husband should remain in the campaign. She said that as hard as it is for her to deal with this, traveling around the country on the campaign has brought her into contact with lots of people who face worse situations -- situations she believes her husband would be able to alleviate if he became president. Therefore, she said this morning, she believes her husband should continue his campaign.

On its face, that's incredibly noble and self-sacrificing. I suppose you could be cynical about it, and you might be correct. I take her words at face value, and in charity, don't see any reason not to. But I must say that as a husband, I do find it difficult to imagine putting my ambition to be president over being wholly and unreservedly available to my wife in her struggle (and to be fair, John Edwards said that when his wife needs his presence during the campaign, he will drop whatever he's doing and rush to her side). Anyway, this is a decision they've made together, and I think the right thing to do is to respect them and pray for them.

BTW, White House press secretary Tony Snow, himself a cancer survivor, had some very classy words this morning about Mrs. Edwards' medical situation.

UPDATE: According to the NYTimes story, Stage 4 breast cancer patients have only a one-in-four chance of living five years from point of diagnosis. So if John Edwards were to be elected president, the American people would likely watch their First Lady die. What a thing to think about.