BANGOR – It started with Penobscot County Sheriff Edward Reynolds the same as it does with many others – a nagging cough. A cold he couldn’t kick. A trip to the doctor.

That was back in March. Now the county’s sheriff for the past 17 years is in the midst of the biggest battle of his life.

“It’s in my lungs,” the sheriff said Monday from his second-story office on Hammond Street. “There’s a tumor on my liver and it’s reasonable to assume it’s cancer. They’ve done bone scans and it’s reasonable to assume it’s in my bones.”

Diagnosed in April, Reynolds, 65, began radiation treatments last week and undergoes the 15-minute treatment at Eastern Maine Medical Center every day. After 16 treatments his doctors will reassess his situation and decide on a next step.

The cancer, Reynolds knows, is inoperable.

“That leaves us to fight it with whatever else is available. I plan on attacking it as aggressively as we can,” he said Monday. “It’s going to be a long road.”

So far, however, Reynolds says he is feeling great. He had been having some pain in his lower back, most likely caused by a cancerous area near his spine. The radiation treatments are focused on that area and already the pain has subsided, he said.

“I really feel good. I have no side effects from the radiation yet, though they say over time it can wear on you, make you feel like you need a nap,” he said.

Reynolds said he plans to pursue any treatment option “they can come up with,” and he has already made a trip to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

“I can’t say enough about the medical professionals I have here,” he said, “but of course they always have new research and treatments there so I’m hoping they’ll come up with something that would be appropriate.”

Since he was diagnosed Reynolds has been busy learning about the disease and the treatment options available, and informing his family and his staff at the sheriff’s department about his condition.

Reynolds has three grown children.

“It’s very hard when you first hear this. You have to come to terms with it and learn a lot very quickly. Then you have to let your kids know, and it was very important to me that my staff hear it early on and from me.”

So a few weeks ago, Reynolds gathered his senior staff around the conference table in his office and told them.

For now everything is going along as normal and Reynolds has no plans to step down from his job.

“Nothing has changed. Well, I say that but really it has. Your whole world is tipped right upside down,” he said.

Reynolds was elected sheriff in 1984 after retiring as a lieutenant from the Bangor Police Department. His current term will end in 2002.

Should there come a time when Reynolds’ health and medical treatment dictate that he step down or take a leave of absence, Chief Deputy Glenn Ross would step in to fill the void.

Reynolds said doctors haven’t speculated on how long the cancer was present before it was discovered, but said he had his last chest X-ray five years ago. Having undergone a triple heart bypass in 1990, Reynolds said he is careful about regular checkups.

Despite the diagnosis, Reynolds remains upbeat and determined to use everything available to fight the disease.

“Look, nobody’s going to live forever. I still think there is an opportunity to have some quality time,” the sheriff said. I’ve talked to a lot of people who say that 85 percent of this is your mental attitude, and I plan to remain optimistic. … There’s a lot of things left that I’d like to do, including hitting a hole in one. I’ve come close, but I’ve never made one. Maybe, the good Lord willing, I’ll get one.”