Katie Couric revealed Wednesday that earlier this year, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. But, in a lengthy post on her website, the journalist reassured everyone that she is fine, and her prognosis is good.
According to Couric, it was during a mammogram on June 20 of this year – six months later than she’d intended – that her doctor found “something here that I’d like to check out,” just to be safe. The next day, Couric was told, “Your biopsy came back. It’s cancer. You’re going to be fine but we need to make a plan.”
In her recollection, Couric noted that she “felt sick and the room started to spin.” She recalled being particularly terrified, given the fact that her husband Jay Monahan died from colon cancer 24 years ago, as well as her own biological family’s history with the sickness.
“The heart-stopping, suspended animation feeling I remember all too well came flooding back: Jay’s colon cancer diagnosis at 41 and the terrifying, gutting nine months that followed,” Couric wrote. “My sister Emily’s pancreatic cancer, which would later kill her at 54, just as her political career was really taking off. 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.”
Though some in her family were able to battle cancer for longer, Couric still worried. “My mood quickly shifted from disbelief to resignation,” she said. “Given my family’s history of cancer, why would I be spared? My reaction went from ‘Why me?’ to ‘Why not me?’”
The good news is, Couric was informed by her doctor that her tumor was “highly treatable,” especially since it was caught so early.
Couric revealed that she underwent a “breast conservation” surgery in July, which was successful, and the likelihood of the cancer returning was “low enough to forgo chemotherapy.” The journalist noted that she began radiation earlier this month, and has “felt fine.”
“Why am I telling you all this? Well, since I’m the ‘Screen Queen’ of colon cancer, it seemed odd to not use this as another teachable moment that could save someone’s life,” Couric wrote. “Please get your annual mammogram. 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.”
