INDIANAPOLIS -- U.S. Rep. Julia Carson's staff announced Monday that she won't seek re-election next year, after Carson confirmed over the weekend that she is battling terminal lung cancer.

Carson, a Democrat who has represented Indianapolis in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1997, is in hospice care at her home, barely able to speak, according to friends.

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Read: Carson's Statement

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The 69-year-old's office on Monday released a statement that indicated she was unsure if she would be able to serve out her current two-year term, which runs through 2008.

"Who knows the future? Who knows God's will? I want very much to return to Washington and continue representing the good people of Indianapolis with my vote," she said in the statement. "I can only request your prayers that I might gain the strength to continue my service."

Carson has been on leave from Congress since September, dealing with what her office described as treatment for a severe leg infection and rehabilitation.

In a statement released over the weekend, Carson said doctors made the cancer diagnosis after treating the leg ailment and that she had planned to return to Washington before the cancer diagnosis.

"It had gone into remission years before, but it was back with a terminal vengeance," the six-term congresswoman said in the statement, which did not disclose the date of her initial diagnosis.

Carson also expressed "my loving and literally eternal gratitude to my friends, including family, constituents and colleagues, who have given me so much love, support and trust."

Friends Detail Carson's Health Struggle

Carson, the first woman and first African-American to represent her district, has relied on support from family, friends and strangers in her health struggles over the last 10 years.

The Rev. Jonathan Baily Sr., of Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church, spoke with Carson Sunday morning and said she is under hospice care and can barely speak. According to Baily, those close to Carson knew she had cancer.

"I was there when the doctor told her she was on hospice, whether she wanted to go to the hospital or stay home," Baily said.

At the same doctor's visit, Carson asked how long she had to live, 6News' Cheryl Jackson reported.

"He said, 'It's not our thing to tell you how long, just make you comfortable,'" Baily said.

Baily met Carson when he began preaching at an Indianapolis church in 1967. He recalled the first time he saw her.

"(She was) a very spry young girl, and I asked who she was," Baily said.

It was about the same time Carson got involved in politics, working with a newly elected congressman.

While she has been working in public service ever since, those who know Carson well said she doesn't talk only politics.

"Whatever she has to say, she's going to say it. She's not going to leave you wondering what's on her mind," said Elizabeth Averett.

Carson's brash style earned her a reputation with good and bad points. Those who are close to the congresswoman said what's in her heart is what matters.

"She has always been for the little person, and she's always been a person to speak her mind. No one can sway her," said Pearl Thomas.

Ann Delaney, a former Democratic Party state chairwoman, told The Indianapolis Star that Carson's health appeared to have been suffering over the past year.

"Frankly, any of us who had seen her in the last year thought there was something pretty seriously wrong with her," Delaney said.

Carson has been away from Washington since she was admitted to an Indianapolis hospital Sept. 21 for treatment of a deep leg infection. Her office had said Carson intended to return to Congress by mid-December, but that was before "the second shoe fell -- heavily," her statement said.

Sporadic Health Problems Have Dogged Carson For 10 Years

Carson has had several health problems during her time in Congress. Most recently, she was hospitalized for more than a week for what her office said was an infection near where a leg vein was removed in January 1997 when she underwent double heart bypass surgery -- weeks after she was first elected to the U.S. House.

Carson also has suffered from high blood pressure, asthma and diabetes and took a one-week leave of absence from her congressional duties in 2003 for what she called routine medical appointments.

She missed dozens of House votes in 2004 because of illness and spent the weekend before the 2004 election in the hospital for what she said was a flu shot reaction -- but still won re-election by 10 percentage points.

Despite health problems that have led to missed votes and GOP claims that she was ineffective, she has won more than two dozen consecutive elections at the local, state and national levels since 1972.

Carson's highest-profile action came in 1999 when she pushed for the legislation granting the Congressional Gold Medal to Rosa Parks, the black woman who refused to give up her seat on a segregated city bus in 1955 in Montgomery, Ala., and was arrested for her defiance.

Carson has championed children's issues, women's rights, affordable housing and efforts to reduce homelessness. She has been a staunch opponent of the war in Iraq.