Eleanor Mondale begins battle with brain cancer

06/21/2005

Neal Justin,
Star Tribune
June 21, 2005

Eleanor Mondale is facing brain cancer with the same qualities that made her a favorite media personality: an optimistic spirit and a sharp wit.

The daughter of former Vice President Walter Mondale confirmed Monday morning that she is suffering from the life-threatening disease, less than a week after her marriage to local rock star Chan Poling and just a few hours before her first session of radiation and chemotherapy at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

“It’s bad but not that bad,” she said from her farmhouse in Prior Lake. “I’ve got a really good chance to beat it.”

Mondale, 45, said her vision had bothered her in recent months, but she didn’t believe there was anything seriously wrong until a camping trip May 16.

Around 4 a.m., she awoke with the first seizure she ever had, followed by another 10 minutes later. There was no cell-phone service in the area, so she and her friend had to wait until the sun rose so they could hike out and call for help.

Mondale and Poling were married Wednesday.Jim CliffordDoctors soon determined that Mondale had two tumors, both in her frontal lobe, and on May 31 they were found to be cancerous.

Mondale said she could have opted for surgery, but she thought she had a better chance by undergoing nearly seven weeks of oral chemotherapy and radiation, which could either zap the tumors completely or reduce them to a size that makes surgery safer.

Cake and medication

Throughout the past month Mondale has maintained the sense of humor that helped make her a frequent host on the E! cable channel in the 1990s and a finalist for NBC’s late-night talk show “Later.”

“When I thought it was really bad, I started eating cake and ice cream like it was out of style,” she said. “Then the diagnosis got better, and I had to stop all that.”

Mondale said she’s dealing with extreme exhaustion from the anti-seizure medicine she’s taking and almost took a tumble Sunday while hanging out at a cousin’s house.

“I was in a bathing suit and I told my cousin, ‘Please don’t take me to the hospital in a bathing suit. I’m much too old for that now,’ “ she said.

Mondale is one of about 200,000 people in the United States who will be found to have brain cancer this year, according to Dawn Grenier, publications coordinator for the Brain Tumor Society in Watertown, Mass. Mondale has primary brain cancer, which Grenier said is less dangerous than metastatic brain cancer, because it starts in the brain and is less likely to spread to other parts of the body.

Still, a cancerous tumor is extremely dangerous, especially in the frontal lobe, a highly sensitive part of the body that serves as headquarters for one’s personality.

“The public awareness of this disease is so limited, even though its incident rate is only slightly less than that of breast cancer,” Grenier said. “I think people mainly don’t want to talk about it because the perceived loss can be much more drastic than the effect on any other body part.”

Walter Mondale, who has received supportive calls from former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, said he shares his only daughter’s optimism.

“We have every reason to believe that this treatment is going to be successful,” he said. “She’s got a lot of spunk.”

Melinda Jacobs, a local media personality, said her good friend seems determined to beat the disease.

“If anything, this struck the wrong person because this person is going to strike back,” Jacobs said. “This time, it’s going nowhere.”

Looking forward

That determination to look forward is one of the reasons why Mondale and Poling, former keyboardist and co-frontman of the Suburbs, moved up their wedding date from the fall to last week. The wedding, at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Minneapolis, was attended only by family and was followed by a dinner at Lucia’s Restaurant.

Mondale moved back to the Twin Cities a few years ago after high-profile gigs in New York City and Los Angeles, including modeling for Vogue, acting in “Three’s Company” and dating millionaire celebrities. She even made news in the ‘90s by jogging with President Bill Clinton, an outing that reportedly infuriated Monica Lewinsky.

Now Mondale just wants to spend time with her third husband, her family and her ever-growing collection of animals, which is why she won’t be spending nights in Rochester after her sessions.

“I just want to be at home with Chan, with my horses, dogs. Even my goldfish,” said Mondale, who was originally going to be married last autumn until she blew out knee ligaments while baling hay. “I’ve got a happy, wonderful guy. I’ve never had anything like it. I’d like to live. But that was always my goal.”