Gabbard shares emotional update on husband’s cancer months after White House exit

Tulsi Gabbard, the former director of National Intelligence, shared a new update Thursday on her husband’s battle with a rare form of bone cancer, months after she announced that her resignation from the Trump administration was prompted by his diagnosis.

“Earlier this year, my husband Abraham was diagnosed with a very rare bone cancer,” Gabbard said in a video shared to social media Thursday. “This has been a very challenging time for us and is hard to talk about.”

Her husband was diagnosed earlier this year with sacral chordoma and has since undergone surgery to remove the tumor and surrounding tissue. She shared clips of her husband in the hospital as he prepared to go into surgery, which was successful .

“So many of you have reached out asking how he’s doing and sharing your prayers and well wishes with us,” she said. “We made this video to share a little about what this journey has been like and to update you on his recovery.”

The video shows clips of her husband, a cinematographer who she married in 2015, learning to walk again after the surgery. Gabbard shared that the recovery process was “scary,” which she said she did not expect, and that her husband refused to take any narcotic pain medication.

“A few weeks after the surgery was done, pathologists and the doctor said that they were confident that they were able to cut out all of the cancerous bone and tissue,” she said in the video.

Gabbard added that in the nearly three months since the successful operation, her husband has started “very rigorous physical therapy” and overall is “progressing very well.”

“The reality is that the battle isn’t over yet,” she said, adding that her husband will need to continue receiving frequent MRIs to ensure the cancer does not come back.

She was later joined by her husband at the end of the video, and the two shared a tearful hug.

Gabbard first disclosed her husband’s diagnosis in May when she announced her resignation, saying he would face “major challenges in the coming weeks and months.”

“At this time, I must step away from public service to be by his side and fully support him through this battle,” she wrote in her resignation letter to President Trump.

Gabbard officially left the administration in June after serving as director of National Intelligence for 16 months.