HAS AND HASN'T HAPPENED SO FAR AND WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN IN THE FINAL WEEKS HERE.

BUT WE START WITH THE FIRST TELEVISION INTERVIEW WITH THE SENATE LEADER TALKING CANDIDLY ABOUT HER INTENSIVE CANCER SURGERY THAT HAS TAKEN HER AWAY FROM THE CAPITOL, BUT NOT HER WORK.

>> Mary: SENATE MAJORITY LEADER, IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOU.

THIS IS WHERE YOU'VE BEEN WORKING.

CAN YOU TELL US WHERE YOU'RE AT?

>> I'VE BEEN WORKING BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN MY MOM'S HOUSE AND MY HOUSE.

I LIVE IN A TOWN HOUSE, SO THERE'S MORE STAIRS, SO ORIGINALLY I WAS HERE AND THEN I'VE BEEN MORE AND MORE AT MY HOUSE, BUT ON THE PHONE SINCE LIKE 7:00 THIS MORNING.

SO DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO GET OVER THERE YET TODAY.

>> Mary: IT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE YOU'VE BEEN DOING A LOT OF RESTING AT HOME.

IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU'VE BEEN WORKING A LOT.

>> OF LOT OF PHONE CALLS.

BUT, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN REST AND DO PHONE CALLS.

AND PEOPLE HAVE BEEN VERY RESPECTFUL AND STAFF AND ASSISTANT LEADERS HAVE BEEN GREAT.

AND I GREATLY APPRECIATE THE NOTES FROM PEOPLE.

YOU KNOW, MY CONSTITUENTS, A LOT OF ADVOCATES AND MEMBERS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE AND IN THE HOUSE.

AND IT'S TRULY BEEN A DAY BRIGHTENER TO GET FOLKS IN FROM PEOPLE.

>> Mary: WE JUST DISCOVERED, THIS WAS A REALLY BIG SURGERY, THIS WAS FIVE HOURS, THIS INVOLVED MULTIPLE PROCEDURES.

CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THE CANCER DIAGNOSIS?

>> GOING INTO THE SURGERY WASN'T QUITE SURE WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN.

AND, SO, YOU KNOW, WOKE UP SEVERAL HOURS LATER, AND, YOU KNOW, WAS TOLD, OH, NO, IT WAS A LONG SURGERY BECAUSE YOU GET OUT OF SURGERY, YOU DON'T KNOW, WAS IT TEN MINUTES THAT I WAS UNDER OR HOW LONG.

AND, SO, THEY KIND OF WALKED THROUGH EVERYTHING.

AND, SO, I HAD A HYSTERECTOMY, THEY REMOVED THE SPLEEN, THEY REMOVED THE APPENDIX, THEY OPEN YOUR STOMACH MUSCLES FROM STERNUM ON DOWN, SO I THINK THAT HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST ADJUSTMENT.

JUST EVEN SITTING HERE TODAY, YOU FORGET HOW MUCH YOU'RE USING YOUR STOMACH AND YOUR BACK MUSCLES.

THAT HAS BEEN A CHALLENGE.

>> Mary: AND WHAT ABOUT THE REMINDER FOR ALL OF US, ESPECIALLY DURING THE PANDEMIC WHEN MAYBE WE DIDN'T DO OUR ROUTINE TESTS QUITE ENOUGH, CAN YOU TELL US THE IMPORTANCE OF THAT AND HOW IT PERHAPS FOUND YOUR CANCER?

>> I HAVE BEEN PRETTY CONSISTENT AND REGULAR IN GETTING ALL THE CHECKS, BUT DURING THE PANDEMIC, YOU KNOW, I THINK I HAD MULTIPLE APPOINTMENTS SCHEDULED FOR APRIL 2020 ON BREAK IN APRIL 2020, AND THEY WERE ALL CANCELED.

DID SOME OF THEM, BUT WAS SLOWLY -- YOU KNOW, TOOK A WHILE TO GET APPOINTMENTS.

JUST WENT IN FOR THE ANNUAL AND THEY FOUND SOME IRREGULARITIES AND HAD LIKE A FEW FOLLOW-UPS AND IT TOOK A FEW FOLLOW-UPS TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS GOING ON.

AND THEN THEY FOUND A TUMOR.

SO THEN HAD TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THAT WAS AND HOW TO PROCEED, BUT, YOU KNOW, GETTING YOUR COLONOSCOPIES, YOUR MAMMOGRAMS, YOUR PAP SMEARS, ALL THOSE TESTS I THINK ARE SO IMPORTANT BECAUSE YOU RULY DON'T KNOW.

I HAD NO YMPTOMS.

I WAS FEELING FINE.

I WOULD SAY UP UNTIL LIKE MAYBE THE DAY BEFORE SURGERY, I WAS FEELING SOME -- A LITTLE UNCOMFORTABLE.

BUT I WAS FEELING FINE.

>> Mary: WOW.

AND YOU WERE BUSY AND STRESSED.

'>> YES.

>> Mary: THIS IS THE BIGGEST JOB -- >> I DON'T KNOW ABOUT STRESS, BUT IT WAS A LOT OF FUN AND VERY BUSY, AND VERY ACTIVE.

AND, SO, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, I ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO JUST GET TESTED BECAUSE YOU JUST DON'T KNOW.

MINE IS OVARIAN CANCER, AND THERE'S NOT A LOT OF SYMPTOMS, AND PEOPLE DON'T CATCH IT EARLY.

THEY JUST, YOU KNOW, USUALLY IT'S A FLUKE, AND, SO, GET TESTED.

>> Mary: SO HOW ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON WITH YOU MENTALLY AFTER GOING 100 MILES AN HOUR, SESSION WAS OFF TO THE BUSIEST START IN, REALLY, STATE HISTORY, OVER A DOZEN BILLS, NOT LITTLE BILLS, MAJOR BILLS SIGNED INTO LAW.

YOU ARE LEADING A SLIM ONE-VOTE MAJORITY, YOU'RE IN A NEW JOB.

YOU KNOW, JUST GOIN' SO FAST AND SO HARD.

AND THEN THIS HITS.

WALK US THROUGH THAT.

WHAT DOES THAT FEEL LIKE?

>> WELL, IT WAS A SHOCK.

BECAUSE, AGAIN, LIKE I SAID, I WAS FEELING FINE.

SO IT WAS A SHOCK.

AND THEN YOU JUST DEAL WITH IT.

SO I JUST DEALT WITH IT LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE, YOU KNOW, JUST ONE DAY TIGHT, ONE -- ONE DAY AT A TIME, ONE STEP FORWARD, JUST DEALT WITH T. HAD THE SURGERY MONDAY.

YOU KNOW, WAS LITERALLY TALKING TO, I THINK, MY SISTER TALKED TO THE CHIEF OF STAFF THAT EVENING TO GIVE HER AN UPDATE BECAUSE I WAS STILL PRETTY DRUGGED UP.

BUT ON THE PHONE AND OTED THE NEXT DAY.

YOU KNOW?

>> Mary: REMOTE VOTING, LIKE HOW IMPORTANT, IN ETROSPECT, WAS THAT POLICY OF ALLOWING REMOTE VOTING AND THE NEW FLEXIBLE WORK SCHEDULE THAT MANY OF US HAVE POST PANDEMIC?

>> I DIDN'T THINK MY SITUATION AT ALL, T WAS MORE WE HAVE A LOT OF YOUNG PARENTS AND THE MOST YOUNG PARENTS IN HISTORY IN THE SENATE, AND, SO, I JUST THOUGHT, KIDS GET SICK.

AND PEOPLE JUST NEED TO HAVE FLEXIBILITY.

AND THEN I BROUGHT UP WHEN WE WERE DEBATING THAT, YOU KNOW, WE HAD A TIME WHERE A SENATOR'S DAD WAS DYING, AND SHE WAS WITH HIM.

AND SHE ALSO HAD MAJOR BILLS.

BUT, YOU KNOW, IT KIND OF GROUNDS TO A HALT AND YOU FEEL BAD BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, IN HINDSIGHT, NOWADAYS WE'RE SO USED TO IT, SHE COULD DO BOTH, SHE COULD HAVE BEEN WITH HER DAD AND TAKEN THE TIME TO BE WITH HER DAD AND STILL BEING ABLE TO GET THE JOB DONE.

SO I THINK IT'S A GOOD POLICY.

YOU KNOW, WE HAD ANOTHER MEMBER THAT WAS JUST OUT INJURED AND, SO, THEY WERE ABLE TO VOTE FROM HOME FOR A FEW WEEKS HERE.

SO I THINK IT IS HELPFUL BECAUSE A LOT OF PEOPLE WERE WORKING FROM HOME.

NOT EVERYBODY COULD WORK FROM HOME AND IT IMPACTED PEOPLE DIFFERENTLY.

BUT A LOT OF MY WORK IN THE LAST MONTH HAS BEEN FLASHBACK TO 2020 BECAUSE IT'S BEEN A LOT OF -- IT'S BEEN ALL PHONE CALLS AND ZOOM CALLS.

>> Mary: WHAT ABOUT PAID FAMILY LEAVE, DOES IT MAKE THAT BILL, WHICH IS STILL GOING THROUGH THE PROCESS, KIND OF MORE IMPORTANT FOR YOU?

>> I'VE HAD A LOT OF PEOPLE TELL ME THAT.

THAT THIS SHOWS HOW IMPORTANT PAID FAMILY LEAVE IS BECAUSE THE DOCTORS SAID, YOU KNOW, YOU SHOULD PROBABLY TAKE SIX WEEKS OFF, YOU NEED A DOCTOR'S NOTE, I'M LIKE, WELL, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S GOING TO WORK.

I DON'T KNOW IF I CAN TAKE SIX WEEKS OFF.

YOU KNOW, I MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO BE AT THE CAPITOL FOR A FEW WEEKS, THERE'S A LOT OF WALKING AROUND WHEN YOU'RE AT THE CAPITOL, LIKE I SAID, YOU USE YOUR BACK MUSCLES A LOT.

AND, SO, THAT'S BEEN TOUGH.

BUT IT JUST SHOWS HOW IMPORTANT IT IS BECAUSE NOT EVERYBODY HAS THE FLEXIBILITY THAT LUCKILY I'M ABLE TO HAVE THAT I CAN DO A LOT OF THE WORK VIA PHONE AND ZOOM AND NOT EVERYBODY CAN DO THAT.

SO I DO THINK IT SHOWS HOW IMPORTANT IT IS, BECAUSE YOU JUST NEVER KNOW WHEN SOMETHING'S GOING TO COME UP.

>> Mary: WHAT'S YOUR PROGNOSIS ON RETURNING PHYSICALLY TO THE CAPITOL YET THIS SESSION?

IS THAT POSSIBLE?

>> YEAH, I'M CONTINUING TO TALK TO MY DOCTORS AND I HOPE SO.

WITH THE SPLEEN BEING REMOVED, THEY WERE A LITTLE -- YOU KNOW, THEY WANTED ME TO TAKE THE TIME BECAUSE I HAD TO GET SOME -- THE SPLEEN DEALS WITH YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM, SO I AD TO GET SOME ADDITIONAL VACCINES FOR THAT.

AND, SO, MAKING SURE THAT'S OKAY.

AND THEN IT'S JUST MAKING SURE I HAD THE STAMINA TO WALK.

>> ary: WELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING.

>> THANK YOU.

>> Mary: YOUR PERSONAL JOURNEY AND WHAT IT MEANS TO THE PUBLIC.

REALLY APPRECIATE THAT.

>> YEAH, I AGAIN JUST ENCOURAGE EVERYBODY BECAUSE YOU DON'T KNOW, GO OUT THERE, GET TESTED, AND THEN I'VE ALSO BEEN TELLING PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT STRUGGLES PEOPLE ARE, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE ARE HAVING AND THE CHALLENGES THEY ARE FACING.

SO JUST