Red Lake County journalist Christopher Ingraham reveals cancer diagnosis
Christopher Ingraham, the former Washington Post writer who is now working for the Minnesota Reformer, has revealed he has been diagnosed with cancer.
Ingraham – who became known in Minnesota after insulting Red Lake County in a data article for the WaPo, and then made up for it by moving there – announced on Twitter Thursday that he is being treated for bile duct cancer at the Mayo Clinic.
"As far as cancers go it's a bad one, right up there with pancreatic cancer in terms of grim overall prognosis," Ingraham tweeted, saying he began feeling symptoms six weeks ago – first feeling "itchy all over," before his eyeballs turned yellow.
This ultimately led to the discovery of a tumor in his liver that is too large to remove, meaning his only hope for a cure is a liver transplant.
The Ingraham family has been living in Red Lake Falls since 2016, moving less than a year after he wrote a data article proclaiming Red Lake County to be the worst place to live in America, a conclusion reached based on the USDA's natural amenities index that found it to be lacking in favorable scenery and climate.
He left the Washington Post in June 2021 and launched his own data journalism site on Substack, called The Why Axis. In July, he joined the Minnesota Reformer, the Twin Cities-based nonprofit news organization, which he praised for being not only supportive after the diagnosis, but also provides "the only 'good' health insurance I've ever had, which ensures virtually no out-of-pocket costs."
He's now awaiting news of whether he qualifies for a transplant, adding that doctors didn't find any signs of metastatic spread outside of the bile ducts.
Minnesota Reformer editor J. Patrick Coolican posted a message of support in his newsletter Thursday.
"Please keep our colleague Chris Ingraham in your thoughts — and if it’s your thing, prayers — as he battles cancer," he wrote.
"Since he started at the Reformer a few months ago, we’ve quickly come to know Chris as a talented, dedicated, supportive and hysterically funny colleague, and we’re with him all the way."
