It's a surgery we wish a number of cable news people would get.

A Weatherman at WVEC (Norfolk) will be missing from the air as he gets part of his tongue removed.

Longtime WVEC chief meteorologist Jeff Lawson is undergoing a medical procedure to remove potentially cancerous tissue from his tongue.

He said he’s not sure how long his recovery will take.

The Virginian Pilot writes that doctors have been monitoring the issue for years, Lawson said Friday evening. A biopsy in December showed the tissue was precancerous, but things have gotten worse since then, he said, and doctors have decided to operate, likely removing some parts of his tongue.

“Get in there as early as possible and take as little as possible,” Lawson said.

At this point, he said, no one knows the extent of the surgery or the recovery.

Lawson posted about the surgery and his absence on social media: