White House chief of staff Susie Wiles is opening up about the grueling reality of fighting breast cancer while holding one of Washington's most demanding jobs, revealing that some days simply getting out of bed and going to work took all the strength she had. In an op-ed published Sunday in USA Today, Wiles described what it was like to undergo chemotherapy while continuing to lead the White House staff for President Donald Trump. The disease occupied her thoughts from the moment she woke up and sometimes even while she slept, she wrote.
"Fighting cancer is brutal and unrelenting," Wiles wrote. Questions about treatment, test results and what might come next could overtake even a strong mind. At times, she acknowledged, they overtook hers.
CANCER-RELATED BRAIN FOG MAY IMPROVE WITH 2 SIMPLE TREATMENTS, SCIENTISTS SAY Some days, Wiles said, she poured her strength into fighting the disease. On others, getting out of bed, getting dressed and going to work was its own test. "Most days, I carried the full weight of both," she wrote.
Work gave her a purpose beyond appointments, scans and side effects. "Cancer can make your world very small," Wiles wrote. She said she pushed herself to stay focused on the people who depended on her, even as she knew others might question whether she could still lead effectively.
KAI TRUMP REVEALS HOW FAMILY RALLIED AROUND MOM VANESSA AMID BREAST CANCER BATTLE: ‘IT’S A LONG JOURNEY’ The treatment did take a toll on her stamina, mobility and, at times, her focus. Wiles said she could not always be everywhere she wanted to be. Colleagues inside and outside the White House stepped in, while her two daughters, extended family, friends and medical team helped carry her through the illness.
Wiles made clear that working through treatment would not be right or possible for everyone. For her, she wrote, the job helped her hold on to a sense of who she was beyond the disease. CANCER SURVIVORS MAY SEE SURPRISING BENEFITS FROM ONE SPECIFIC EXERCISE, STUDY SAYS After successful surgery, pathology showed no residual cancer, Wiles wrote.
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