Former Toronto mayor Rob Ford recovering after successful cancer surgery

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Rob Ford is recovering in hospital after doctors removed a cancerous tumour from the controversial former mayor's abdomen during a marathon 10-hour operation.

Mr. Ford's office issued a statement on Monday saying the surgery was "a success," and that by evening, the Etobicoke councillor was fully conscious and recovering. The announcement is the most significant development thus far in a nine-month battle for Mr. Ford against liposarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer.

"There were no new growths, the cancer had not spread beyond what they were already aware of, and they were able to remove all the existing growths without causing damage to any internal structures," said a statement sent out Monday evening by Mr. Ford's chief of staff, Dan Jacobs.

Mr. Jacobs said the former mayor is in "some pain," but that it is being managed by hospital staff.

"We've just been praying that Rob makes it through, which we're totally confident – 100 per cent confident that he will," brother Doug Ford said earlier on Monday, flanked by mother Diane and nephew Michael Ford.

Speaking with reporters outside Mount Sinai Hospital as doctors were completing the procedure, Doug Ford acknowledged that his brother still has a long road ahead – including two weeks in hospital followed by a four-month recovery at home. "He has a big battle ahead of him," Doug told reporters.

Mr. Ford's 10-hour procedure began on Monday morning, and involved four surgeons led by Mount Sinai's Carol Swallow. Before Mr. Ford was put under anesthesia early on Monday, a staffer photographed him in his hospital bed, wearing a blue plastic cap and giving two thumbs-up.

Mr. Ford was hospitalized for abdominal pain in September, and diagnosed shortly after with liposarcoma. He has had several rounds of chemotherapy and radiation to shrink the abdominal tumour – which started at about 12 centimetres by 12 centimetres – to a size doctors could operate on. Until just a few months ago, Mr. Ford was telling reporters that if he did not have surgery soon, he likely would not survive another year.

Mr. Ford's stunning diagnosis came at the end of his tumultuous term as mayor, which included allegations of drug and alcohol abuse, and a vote by fellow councillors to strip him of most of his powers as chief magistrate. After admitting to substance abuse and attending rehab, he mounted a comeback campaign for re-election – only to have that campaign cut short by the cancer diagnosis.

Doug Ford, who ran in his place for mayor, came in second behind John Tory.

In recent months, Doug – who until recently was a city councillor himself – told reporters that he plans to step in as a "volunteer" to help with his brother's duties as a councillor. "I'll help Rob any way I can," Doug told reporters on Monday.