BY JEFF SEIDEL

DETROIT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER


Robert Bobb's appearance changed dramatically over the last year. He lost weight. His face became sunken, and his voice seemed to weaken.

The rumors were rampant: Did he suffer a stroke? Was he in rehab? Nobody knew for sure.

As Bobb approaches the end of his tenure as the emergency financial manager of Detroit Public Schools, he is revealing the truth: Bobb told the Free Press he was diagnosed with Stage 4 tongue cancer on April 13, 2010. The cancer spread to the lymph nodes in his neck, and he had about a 40% to 50% chance of surviving five years.

But after two surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation, he said his prognosis is "very good. Excellent."

Bobb said he told only a handful of people about the cancer because he didn't want his personal problem to become a distraction. "In some instances, it would have been used against me," Bobb said. "In other instances, it would have drawn sympathy. I didn't want either."

With only a few days left until he is replaced by Roy Roberts, Bobb looked back on his time in Detroit, talking about his biggest regrets, while revealing his fight against cancer.

"It was a hell of an ordeal, man," Bobb said.

Continued at: http://www.freep.com/article/20110511/NEWS06/305110005/Robert-Bobb-tells-cancer-fight-regrets-about-DPS?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE