Former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced in a Vogue magazine article that she was recently diagnosed with stage 2 colon cancer.
Quinn sat down with Errol Louis on “Inside City Hall” Friday to discuss her progress.
“I was having all of these, you know, gastrointestinal problems and stomach pains and I thought it was just the after effects of a ruptured appendectomy, which happened last fall,” she said.
Quinn said her doctor was the one who pointed out that she needs to get a colonoscopy, which is when the tumor was discovered.
She had surgery to remove the tumor.
Quinn said she was lucky the tumor didn’t break through the wall of her colon, “when things can get even worse.”
“That colonoscopy really saved my life. I can’t say it any other way,” she said, adding that people usually put off getting the procedure. “But what the heck, if it could save your life, you can be around for decades, more to come with your family and your loved ones.”
“It’s totally, totally worth it,” Quinn, 56, said about the colonoscopy.
She said she completed her chemotherapy, but possible side effects of that can last about a year.
After Thanksgiving, Quinn said she will take a PET scan, which will reveal if the chemotherapy worked.
Quinn, who is president and CEO of Win, which is providing about 250 families seeking asylum with shelter and resources, also talked about Mayor Eric Adams declaring a “state of emergency” over New York City’s migrant crisis.
“But just creating structures, whether they’re welfare hotels or these tent cities that are placed for people to put their head on a pillow, that’s not enough,” she said. “We need to do more just like we do for the traditional clients who are in our shelter system.”