Iowa Senator Catelin Drey Knows her State’s Cancer Crisis. She’s Living it.

Iowa Senator Catelin Drey Knows her State’s Cancer Crisis. She’s Living it.

Drey’s diagnosis comes amid national attention on Iowa’s cancer crisis, which experts believe could be tied to a “toxic mix” of environmental and health risk factors.

State Sen. Catelin Drey knows Iowa's in a cancer crisis. She’s living it.

Iowa State Sen. Catelin Drey in the Iowa Senate chamber. — Danny Wilcox Frazier/Sentient In January, state Sen. Catelin Drey stood at a podium on the Senate floor in front of her colleagues representing all corners of Iowa. She told them that she was about to speak candidly on a topic both “personal and political.” Behind her, legislators and staffers appeared to be half-listening, looking at their laptops and flipping through papers.  When she …