NEW YORK -- New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson underwent surgery last Wednesday as part of his scheduled treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer, which had been diagnosed late last season.

Alderson described the procedure as successful. He remains on course for a "full recovery," he added.

"The surgery was preplanned," Alderson said Tuesday afternoon, before the Mets opened a showdown with the National League East-leading Washington Nationals at Citi Field. "It was part of an overall strategy that was devised by my doctors early in December. The surgery followed a very successful regime of chemotherapy.

"The surgery itself was, I'm going to say, fantastically successful. The doctors were able to do everything they had hoped to do and were able to avoid everything they hoped to avoid. So, from that standpoint, everything worked out extremely well.

"From where we were to where we are today, I'm still on a road to full recovery. Really the only reason for having to talk about this at this point is that there has been some speculation, and I wanted to make sure that was put to rest.

"Now, I'm not running a four-minute mile at the moment. My mouth is a little dry from time to time. But that's what happens when you have surgery of any type. I expect to be here today. I expect to be here some portion of virtually every day. I'm in daily contact with ownership as well as the baseball-operations department and anyone else who needs access to me, other than perhaps the media. So everything is going very well."

Alderson's front-office deputies J.P. Ricciardi and John Ricco, as well as son Bryn, a scout with the organization, were on hand for the announcement.

"We've all known someone who has had to fight a fight," manager Terry Collins said. "I've never been around anybody who has fought it better. This guy absolutely never lets his condition stand in the way of anything he does -- the way he continues to work with me and the team.

"The doctors were able to do everything they had hoped to do and were able to avoid everything they hoped to avoid," Sandy Alderson said in revealing he had cancer surgery last week. "So, from that standpoint, everything worked out extremely well." Alex Trautwig/Getty Images

"We know he's not well -- we know he's not feeling well -- and yet that's never been in the way. I've never been around somebody stronger that's ever been through something like this before. Ever. The fact that he's here today after he just had surgery a few days ago tells you how tough he is."

Alderson said he prefers not to disclose the form of cancer for which he is being treated.

"It's not because I'm trying to be cute or evasive, but there's a certain amount of information that is mine only," Alderson said. "Rather than throwing everything out there and creating even more speculation -- not in terms of me, but the speculation as it relates to the population, et cetera, et cetera -- I just decided not to go there.

"By making myself visible, by talking about it to the extent that I have, my goal is to make sure that everybody is comfortable with where I am and what they believe is my physical situation."

Alderson said no other surgery is being contemplated at this time. He said he could have a full workday every day from this point going forward, but there is no reason to "push it" so soon after surgery.

"I feel very well," Alderson said. "I mean, I feel well in the context of probably requiring a couple of weeks for full recovery from a surgery."