A chronology of former Toronto mayor Rob Ford’s health battles

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has battled personal health troubles since 2014.

Some key dates:

2014:

April 30: The lawyer for Ford announces the Toronto mayor will take a leave of absence to seek help for substance abuse.

June 30: Ford returns from rehab to resume his limited duties as mayor, saying that seeking treatment for substance abuse was a life-saving decision. He promises his commitment to “living clean is unwavering.” And Ford makes it clear he intends to continue his campaign to be re-elected mayor in the upcoming fall election.

Sept. 10: Ford is admitted to hospital after complaining for months of abdominal pain. Doctors discover a tumour and a biopsy is done the next day after he is transferred to the downtown Toronto Mount Sinai Hospital.

Sept. 12: Citing his health, Ford withdraws from the mayoral race just ahead of an official deadline to do so. Instead he files papers to run again for council in his former suburban Toronto ward.

Sept. 17: Dr. Zane Cohen of Mount Sinai Hospital tells a news conference Ford has been diagnosed with malignant liposarcoma, which arises in soft tissue structures and makes up about one per cent of cancers. He says Ford will undergo two rounds of chemotherapy treatment over the next 40 days. The mayor’s brother, Doug Ford, says the diagnosis has been “devastating” but that Rob Ford “remains upbeat and determined to fight this.”

2015:

Feb. 26: Ford says he’s finished several rounds of chemotherapy and radiation, and doctors will perform an MRI to determine if the tumour is small enough to operate.

April 2: Ford says the tumour has shrunk to about 5.6 by 5.3 by 4.5 centimetres — roughly half of what it was when he started therapy — which was enough to operate.

May 11: Ford has surgery to remove the tumour from his abdomen. The surgery was expected to last more than 10 hours and the recovery will take at least four months.

Oct. 28: Ford announces he has a tumour growing on his bladder.