The last six weeks have been a new and scary experience for Auburn football head coach Hugh Freeze.

The university announced on Feb. 28 that the 55-year-old coach had been diagnosed with an early form of prostate cancer. The initial statement said the cancer is “very treatable and curable” and that Freeze is expected to make a full recovery with “forthcoming proper treatment.”

Freeze confirmed to reporters Thursday that more tests indicated that the cancer is low aggressive. That means he plans to not immediately have surgery to treat it, instead opting to wait until January to be re-evaluated by his doctors.

“In consultation with the doctors that we’re dealing with, they think that if mentally I can handle waking up at night knowing you have something in you that you don’t want in you, they don’t feel like I have to be in a hurry to do something,” Freeze said. “If we go in and do a removal or whatever treatment we do, the best times for me probably are middle of June or middle of January and ‘cause you kind of need three weeks or so. And Jill and I, as of today, probably think I can handle the mental side of it.”

The initial statement from Auburn after the announcement of the diagnosis said that Freeze would continue his coaching duties as normal, which has been the case during spring practice. Freeze’s elected treatment plan would further back up that statement.

The mental aspect of having the cancer in his body was the main thing Freeze had to consider when electing not to have immediate surgery, but he told ESPN’s Chris Low that he’s “at peace with it.”

Auburn will finish up practice this Saturday as the Tigers will have their annual A-Day event. Doors open for fans at Jordan-Hare Stadium at 11 a.m. and the hour-long open practice is scheduled to begin at noon.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m