Rep. O’Brien Fights Back From Brain Cancer

It hasn’t been an easy few months for state Rep. Elaine O’Brien.

The joy of an Election Day win was offset by health problems. The Suffield Democrat was able to attend the legislature’s opening day, but missed the governor’s budget address, and a brain cancer diagnosis, two surgeries and chemotherapy and radiation treatments left her with little time to propose any bills.

O’Brien, who is also town clerk in Suffield, said she knows that she has to take care of herself, but says she hasn’t stopped thinking of her constituents during her illness. Her brother, Jack Corrigan, says he can vouch for that.

Throughout her first round of cancer treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital, O’Brien, 57, stayed at Corrigan’s home in Brookline, Mass., and he said technology allowed his older sister to both keep in touch with those in Hartford and study the governor’s proposed budget.

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