Elizabeth Edwards gravely ill

WASHINGTON - Elizabeth Edwards is gravely ill and doctors have told her she has only weeks to live, according to a family friend who is among those who have gathered with Edwards at her North Carolina home.

The family issued a statement yesterday that said doctors have told her further treatment for her cancer would be unproductive, and the family friend further described Edwards' condition to The Associated Press.

The friend said Edwards was hospitalized briefly last week and received treatment, but doctors have now told her that she may have only up to a couple of months left. The friend spoke on condition of anonymity because of the personal details divulged.

Edwards' estranged husband, former presidential candidate John Edwards, and their three children were at her side at the Chapel Hill home, the friend reported. Her sister, brother, nieces, nephews and other loved ones were also there. The friend said Elizabeth Edwards is not in pain and is in good spirits.

Edwards, 61, a popular figure among Democratic activists as she campaigned with her husband in two presidential bids, posted on her Facebook page that she can't express the love and gratitude she feels to those who've supported and inspired her. "The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered," she wrote.

She separated from her husband after he admitted an extramarital affair and fathering a child with mistress Rielle Hunter. Edwards has battled breast cancer since 2004, diagnosed in the final days of the campaign when her husband was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee.

Edwards was more than a political spouse. She was chief adviser and strategist to her husband's campaigns for the Senate and later for the presidency. After retreating from public life as their marriage crumbled, she emerged to advocate for changes in the country's health care system while grappling with her own disease.

- AP