Pittsburgh Mayor Bob O'Connor may not be back in his office until Labor Day, leaving city government to muddle through an extended absence.

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Officials past and present said yesterday that wasn't necessarily a dire prospect. Mr. O'Connor is seeing staff in the hospital and keeping in touch by cell phone, and city operations will roll on, barring a crisis. But two months of mayoring-by-phone "is new territory" for the city, said George Jacoby, who was executive secretary to Mayor Richard Caliguiri in the 1980s.

Mr. O'Connor has primary nervous system lymphoma. His doctors said yesterday that his brain tumors are shrinking in response to high doses of the chemotherapy drug methotrexate and steroids.

Side effects, including fatigue, nausea and uncontrolled hiccups, have been worse than expected. That's why the mayor has been in UPMC Shadyside for the bulk of the last two weeks, and could remain there for days more.

After discharge, he'll work from home.

"Our intention is to keep him away from city hall at least for the next several weeks, probably through the end of August, early September," said Dr. Stanley Marks, director of clinical services at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center.

The amount of work the mayor has been able to do has "been varying each day," Dr. Marks said. Staff members have been bringing him paperwork, then leaving when he gets tired.

The mayor hasn't eaten much in two weeks, and has been essentially confined to bed, Dr. Marks said. "So his endurance is really bad. ... And frankly, his fatigue has really limited the number of hours" he can work.

The city charter allows a mayor to appoint a deputy to take on his duties if the mayor is absent or temporarily disabled. Mr. O'Connor's administration is adamant that there's no need to do that or to decide who would take the helm if the mayor needed to set aside his duties for a time.

The mayor "doesn't have to make that decision. He's capable of making any decision that has to be made, including that," said mayoral spokesman Dick Skrinjar. "That's not a decision that is on the horizon now, or Friday, Saturday or over the next weeks and months."

Doctors said the mayor is communicative, when he's not sedated.

"As of this morning he's wide awake, alert, quite conversant and fully oriented," said Dr. Marks. "Probably this is the best morning he's had to date, so we expect that to continue to improve."

Mayors have readily appointed their solicitor, treasurer or another department head as temporary deputies when they've gone on vacation.

Mayor Joseph Barr travelled, even going to South Vietnam in the 1960s to monitor an election, said Aldo Colautti, who was then the city's executive secretary. He usually appointed a deputy.

"Short of some unanticipated event of considerable importance, I would think the record will show that the city can continue to function" while the mayor is away, Mr. Colautti said.

Sickness is a stickier matter, since mayors have political incentives to appear healthy and in charge.

Even former Mayor Richard Caliguiri, who suffered from incurable amyloidosis and died in office, did not officially hand the keys to a deputy.

The city charter does not address what would happen if a mayor suddenly became disabled and was unable to name a deputy.

Mr. Caliguiri's administration crafted a secret plan in case that happened, said Mr. Jacoby. He would not reveal the details.

"Short of a doctor determining [that a mayor] is incapacitated, or a court determining that he's incapacitated, it's his decision" whether to appoint a deputy, he said.

City Council President Luke Ravenstahl agreed that the decision was up to the administration.

"Obviously, he's missed in city hall," Mr. Ravenstahl said of the mayor. "His decision-making, I'm confident, is being carried out through his department heads and staff."

He said he's been in frequent touch with city Chief of Staff B.J. Leber, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Dennis Regan and others.

Council takes most of August off anyway, noted Councilman William Peduto. "There's probably not a better time, from the legislative side, for the mayor to rest."

Though summer is typically a slow time in city government, fall is not. The city must, under state law, produce a new budget and five-year plan by Sept. 25, and a complicated process of amendments and approvals follows.

A mayor should personally introduce his budget, Mr. Colautti said, since it "sets the tone for the next year."

Mr. O'Connor has allowed staff, primarily Mr. Skrinjar, to be the voice of city government since July 6. The mayor may speak personally to the media soon, the spokesman said.

"It won't be long until that occurs," he said. "He is not ready to do that now."