Katie Couric, one of the longest-tenured and most-respected women in the world of journalism, revealed on Wednesday that she’s been diagnosed with breast cancer.
She did so via a personal essay on her official blog.
“Please get your annual mammogram,” wrote the 65 year -old.
“I was six months late this time. I shudder to think what might have happened if I had put it off longer. But just as importantly, please find out if you need additional screening.”
The legendary journalist — whose first husband, Jay Monahan, passed away of colon cancer in 1998 — told readers that she learned of her diagnosis earlier this summer.
June 21, to be exact.
“A text came in: ‘Please call me in the office to discuss biopsy results. I tried calling you on your cell. Your mailbox is full,'” Couric wrote of a message she received from her physician on that date.
“When I called back, Dr. Drossman picked up right away.
‘Your biopsy came back. It’s cancer. You’re going to be fine but we need to make a plan.'”
Couric said she “felt sick and the room started to spin” upon learning the news, adding in more detail:
“I was in the middle of an open office, so I walked to a corner and spoke quietly, my mouth unable to keep up with the questions swirling in my head.
‘What does this mean? Will I need a mastectomy? Will I need chemo? What will the next weeks, months, even years look like?'”
Couric went on to delve into her family’s history with this awful disease.
“My sister Emily’s pancreatic cancer, which would later kill her at 54, just as her political career was really taking off,” Couric wrote.
“My mother-in-law Carol’s ovarian cancer, which she was fighting as she buried her son, a year and nine months before she herself was laid to rest.”
However, Couric emphasized there “were better outcomes” for some of her other family members… including her mom and dad, who were both treated for their cancer.
From there, Couric and her doctor devised a plan on how to take on the breast cancer.
“We decided I would have ‘breast conservation’ surgery, aka a lumpectomy,” she explained on her blog.
“She would make an incision right around my areola. She said she’d try to make sure any scars would be covered by my bathing suit — the furthest thing from my mind.”
Couric underwent this procedure on July 14. She started radiation this month.
In between, pathology results came back as showing that her cancer was stage 1A.
She also learned that the likelihood of the cancer returning was “considered low enough to forgo chemotherapy.”
“I can’t tell you how many times during this experience I thanked God that it was 2022,” wrote the former CBS News anchor.
“And how many times I silently thanked all the dedicated scientists who have been working their asses off to develop better ways to analyze and treat breast cancer.
“But to reap the benefits of modern medicine, we need to stay on top of our screenings, advocate for ourselves, and make sure everyone has access to the diagnostic tools that could very well save their life.”
Amen.
We wish Katie Couric a full recovery and applaud her for using her own experience to try and help others.
Katie Couric Reveals Breast Cancer Diagnosis was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip .