Snow remains optimistic in colon cancer fight

updated 8:00 a.m. ET Aug. 8, 2007

WASHINGTON - White House press secretary Tony Snow says he's hopeful he can overcome his latest bout of colon cancer, calling his high-stress job "good therapy."

"It's the idea of you sit around and think, 'Oh, I'm sick,' and concentrate on the disease. Or do you sit around and think, 'OK, how do I fight this?'" he said.

"Medical technology is moving so quickly that, you know, if you buy yourself two or three years, you buy yourself 10 years," said Snow, who spoke in an NBC interview that was taped Friday and broadcast Tuesday on "NBC Nightly News."

Snow, 51, has been undergoing chemotherapy after doctors discovered a recurrence of his cancer in March.

He said the treatment has shown some success so far in "driving it into remission and even going further and shrinking the larger tumors."

Snow, who has lost weight and a lot of his hair, said President Bush often checks on his health. Snow's kids are scared too, "probably more than they let on."

But one of his greatest feelings, Snow said, was returning to work in April. He credits that with giving him much of his hope.

"There's a certain sense where that's a kind of home too," he said.

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