Katie Couric revealed on Wednesday that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and that the tumour had been removed this summer through surgery and radiation therapy.
Couric, who famously had a colonoscopy on the Today show in 2000, revealed her diagnosis in an essay on her website and expressed the hope that it might inspire other women to get checked as well.
The 65-year-old Couric revealed that she received her final radiation treatment on Tuesday after being diagnosed on the first day of summer.
She wrote, “Other than my left breast feeling like I’ve been sunbathing topless, I’ve been fine.”
In 1998, at the age of 41, Couric’s first husband, Jay Monahan, passed away from colon cancer, and in 2001, at the age of 54, her sister Emily passed away from pancreatic cancer. Because of my family history, Couric wrote, my response changed from ‘why me?’ to ‘why not me?’
The former presenter of Today and the CBS Evening News claimed that she had intended to record her mammogram and breast biopsy and share it with viewers, but that when her doctor informed her that a biopsy was required, she begged her to switch off the cameras.
Couric received a call the following day informing her that she had breast cancer and required a strategy.
She claimed, “I felt sick, and the room spun.”
She had a lumpectomy on July 14 and started receiving radiation on September 7.
Why am I sharing this with you?
“Well, it felt odd not to use this as another instructional moment that could save someone’s life since I’m the screen queen’ of colon cancer,” she said.
She advised getting a yearly mammogram. I dread to think what would have happened if I had delayed it for longer than six months.
