Yale Daily News

Updated: Monday, November 23, 2009 1:03 a.m.

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Levin undergoes surgery for prostate cancer

Staff Reporter
Published Thursday, April 30, 2009

University President Richard Levin underwent surgery for prostate cancer on Thursday and will temporarily cede his administrative duties to colleagues as he recovers.

Though Vice President and Secretary Linda Lorimer said the procedure was successful and Levin’s prognosis is “excellent,” the president will stay out of his Woodbridge Hall office for approximately three weeks. During that time, Provost Peter Salovey will assume responsibility for academic and budgeting operations, while Lorimer will be responsible for other University matters.

“The cancer was caught very...

#1 By yale10 10:46p.m. on April 30, 2009

Get well soon President Levin! Our thoughts are with you.

#2 By (Anonymous) 11:24p.m. on April 30, 2009

Thank god the cancer was caught early! Best of luck in the next few weeks President Levin... the Yale community is thinking of you and looking forward to your healthy and full recovery.

#3 By PC '06 11:46p.m. on April 30, 2009

Yikes! Get well soon, President Levin.

#4 By get well soon! 12:28a.m. on May 1, 2009

Wishing a speedy recovery

#5 By TD-10 5:00a.m. on May 1, 2009

Our thoughts are all with President Levin and his family here at Yale. In his recovery, we all hope he knows how much we appreciate him. Get well soon!

#6 By 0Y9 11:48a.m. on May 1, 2009

Get well soon President Levin!

We love you tons and hope to have you back at Yale soon!

#7 By (Anonymous) 11:56a.m. on May 1, 2009

Get well!

#8 By Jerry 1961 12:16p.m. on May 1, 2009

I am a prostate cancer survivor of six years. Four more years and I will be officially 'cured.' President Levin probably had laproscopic surgery which was less invasive than mine. I'm confident that he will have a full recovery and be back for Commencement. I wish him many more years of good health and quality of life.

I was a little surprised that his surgery did not take place at Yale-New Haven Hospital which is certainly a first class medical facility. I realize that decisions about medical treatment are very private. I'm sure there were good reasons to travel to New York City for this procedure.

#9 By Yale '07 1:19p.m. on May 1, 2009

Best wishes for a speedy recovery, President Levin!

#10 By Anonymous 4:26p.m. on May 1, 2009

Hope you feel better soon, President Levin!

#11 By YNHH MD 8:48p.m. on May 1, 2009

Get well soon, President Levin. But I do find it amazing that you had confidence in neither the YNHH Urology Department nor the YNHH HIPAA policies...

#12 By (Anonymous) 9:25p.m. on May 1, 2009

YNHH MD, I agree that it is a little strange. However, perhaps he went to YNHH and they told him to go to New York; or, MOST LIKELY, perhaps he didn't want YNHH because he wanted privacy and less special treatment/attention; etc.

#13 By (Anonymous) 1:33a.m. on May 2, 2009

Right, because the first thing a doctor at YNHH would do is e-mail Levin's prostate screening results to the YDN, and the last thing a guy with prostate cancer would want is special treatment/attention.

#14 By MD 10:38a.m. on May 2, 2009

People should not give their opinion without knowing all the facts. I find it amazing that YNHH MD is so irresponsible and unprofessional that he felt the need to even comment on this very personal decision by President Levin.

#15 By yaledad 2:05p.m. on May 2, 2009

God speed for a full and prompt reoovery with as little discomfort as possible!

#16 By student 6:51p.m. on May 2, 2009

umm.... "irresponsible and unprofessional" to give an opinion or comment without knowing all the facts? you realize that there are many, many people who are paid to give their opinion and comment all the time - professionally! it's perfectly reasonable to state this opinion, and moreover, there are plenty of people who feel the same way. i hope there was a good reason to go to new york, but without being provided more facts, i agree that it is displeasing (at best) to see that the president of the university did not have confidence in his own university's hospital. (of course, obama's kids go to private school and he runs the government that should be running the public schools, so i'm not about to get up in arms over levin's choice of doctor/location, but it still doesn't sit right with me). regardless... best wishes for a successful recovery

#17 By grad student 9:31p.m. on May 2, 2009

get well soon!

#18 By Branford 11 6:48p.m. on May 3, 2009

Our thoughts and prayers are with you, President Levin!

Get well soon!

#19 By Curious 9:07p.m. on May 3, 2009

I don't care what the reason, it is very strange to be blocks from the new cancer center at a Yale affiliated institution, and not have such a "routine" cancer surgery. One can choose where to have surgery, but it certainly looks very bad.

#20 By Sven 9:45p.m. on May 3, 2009

I guess he is not a member of the Yale Health Plan.

#21 By Willie B. Hartigan 9:52p.m. on May 3, 2009

Does Apple University have a medical school?

#22 By (Anonymous) 9:51a.m. on May 4, 2009

It could simply be that the type of procedure he was having was something that New York (Sloan Kettering?) had more experience with. There are tons of types of cancers, types of procedures, etc. The people here at Yale are excellent, but part of that might be recognizing that others have more experience with certain types of cases. No big deal.

I'm just glad everything seemed to go well for Levin. Cancer sucks.

#23 By (Anonymous) 11:11p.m. on May 4, 2009

Many people don't want to be treated by people that they know, nor do they want to be recognized like a celebrity when they're in the hospital. Many doctors don't get treated in the hospital in which they work, it's the same for administrators. It doesn't have to have anything to do with his confidence in YNHH. It's also just plain wrong to go there, as some have on this forum.

Get well soon.

#24 By Recovery on the Horizon 5:52a.m. on May 5, 2009

My own recent experience with surgery (the more invasive kind) is that if you follow directions you get well the correct way with no relapses.

So walk all you can Dr. Levin and rest all you can---I know the latter will be the more difficult for a peripatetic like you.

And ignore all negative vibrations. I turned off the news in the morning and subtituted Classic Arts Showcase and my amazon.com Kindle instead for 10 weeks.

Best wishes,
Paul Keane
M.Div.'80

#25 By yaylie 10:41p.m. on May 5, 2009

If you look at any typical hospital rankings like the one US News does, you will see at least two hospitals in NYC ranked top 10 for urology, while Yale New Haven will not make top 25, probably even 50.

#26 By (Anonymous) 10:42a.m. on May 6, 2009

President Levin clearly wanted the best care. After all, his own health was at stake in a non-trivial matter. Just as anybody else who had the option open to them, he chose the best hospital. He was under no obligation to "support local industry".

Under the circumstances, I think most of us would have chosen to go to Boston, New York or Houston as well.

#27 By eli2011 1:26p.m. on May 13, 2009

get better soon president levin! you're awesome and we are lucky to have you as leader of our university!

#28 By From China (Dr. Liu) 4:38a.m. on May 23, 2009

May you recover soon! I wish you can visit China each year in next several decades. Your each visit always change China's higher education a little.

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