Clay County Attorney has brain tumor surgery

MOORHEAD – Clay County Attorney Brian Melton was expected to be released from the hospital Wednesday after a surgeon at Mayo Clinic successfully removed a benign tumor from his brain on Tuesday.

Doctors determined last week that the pituitary tumor discovered in February needed to be removed because of its size, Melton’s wife wrote on his CaringBridge website.

The surgery went “very well” with no complications, and the surgeon believes he was able to remove the entire benign tumor, the website states.

Melton returned to work in the Clay County Attorney’s Office last month after having been on military leave since March 2011. The lieutenant colonel in the Minnesota National Guard was stationed in Kuwait. It was his third overseas deployment, having previously served in Iraq and Bosnia.