Flu season concerns keep Sen. John McCain in Arizona, Meghan McCain says

Ailing Sen. John McCain is remaining in Arizona for the time being, in part over concerns about the deadly 2018 flu season in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere, daughter Meghan McCain said.

But, she added, there's "a very high likelihood that he will come back to D.C. at some point."

The 81-year-old Arizona Republican was hospitalized in December in Bethesda, Maryland, for a viral infection and side effects related to his ongoing chemotherapy for brain cancer. He returned to Arizona before Christmas and has been getting physical therapy at his family cabin near Sedona. His office has not given an update on McCain's health since Dec. 17, at which time he said he looked forward to returning to work on Capitol Hill in January, which didn't happen.

Worries as flu season rages

"Part of the problem, too, is like it's this deadly, crazy flu season," Meghan McCain, a television commentator, said during a Politico podcast interview posted online Wednesday. "And his immune system is so down, everybody is worried about him getting the flu.

MORE:Arizona health officials: Flu numbers rival pandemic of 2009-10

"But he's very present," she added. "We talk about politics all the time. Mentally, he's 100 percent there. Just physically, he had torn both of his Achilles' tendons and, you know, it's taken some time to get back to physical fighting form."

The flu season generally runs from October-November to as late as May, but usually peaks between December and February, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, was diagnosed in July with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. 

'He's doing really well right now'

Meghan McCain, a co-host of ABC's The View, characterized glioblastoma as a "rough, rough, rough cancer" but was largely upbeat about her father's recovery 

"He's doing, actually, really good. He's made this really incredible comeback," she said on the podcast. "... He's doing well. And I think it's a very high likelihood that he will come back to D.C. at some point."

The younger McCain added for emphasis: "I'm not misrepresenting: He's doing really well right now."

Despite being away from Washington, John McCain has stayed involved. He frequently tweets and publishes through his office written statements on the issues of the day. This week he teamed up with Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., on a bipartisan immigration bill.

Nowicki is The Republic's national political reporter. Follow him on Twitter, @dannowicki.

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