Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton said Tuesday he's been diagnosed with prostate cancer, but doesn't think his diagnosis is connected with his collapse during his State of the State address on Monday.
Dayton also announced that he will finish the final two years of his term.
The 69-year-old Democrat said he'll travel to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester on Tuesday afternoon for tests to find out why he fainted. He'll return to Mayo next week to discuss his prostate cancer treatment options.
Dayton struck his head on a lectern when he collapsed about three-fourths of the way through his speech Monday, but was able to walk out of the Capitol on his own and spent time with his son and grandson after a routine check by emergency medical technicians at his home, according to a staffer.
Dayton said at a news conference Tuesday that a biopsy last week confirmed the cancer. But he said he doesn't feel any discomfort from it and there's no indication the cancer has spread.
He added that he felt fine until the very end, then collapsed before he could do anything. Dayton joked that he learned his speech was too long.
Nearing his 70th birthday on Thursday, Dayton has a history of health problems, fainting at a hot and crowded event in February 2016 and having a series of back and hip surgeries in recent years that left him with a permanent limp.
