John McCain Reveals His Devastating Brain Cancer Prognosis: 'Now We're Going to Do What We Can'

John McCain
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John McCain is opening up about his cancer diagnosis, and how he took the devastating news.

John McCain is opening up about his cancer diagnosis, and how he took the devastating news.

In an interview with 60 Minutes that aired on Sunday, the 81-year-old Republican senator talked about battling glioblastoma -- an aggressive form of brain cancer -- and what the outlook is. McCain said he first visited the doctor to check out a blood clot in his eye, which is when his cancer was discovered. He said he repeatedly told doctors to "tell it to me straight."

“As you know, doctors are interesting,” he said. “Some say 3 percent, some say 14 percent. You know, it’s a very poor prognosis. So, I just said, ‘I understand. Now we’re going to do what we can, get the best doctors we can find and do the best we can, and at the same time celebrate with gratitude a life well lived.'"

McCain made a dramatic return to work at the Senate in July, when he voted no on an attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare. On Friday, he made headlines again when he said he wouldn't back the Graham-Cassidy bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act. 

Although the Arizona senator admitted to having "feelings sometimes of fear of what happens," he stressed that knows he "had a great life."

"It's not that you're leaving, it's that you -- that you stayed," he said.

In February, Ashton Kutcher playfully blew a kiss at McCain after the actor testified at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee, when the Arizona senator joked that he was "better looking in the movies."

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