Katie Couric was diagnosed with breast cancer over the summer and subsequently underwent surgery and radiation treatments which were completed this week.
As the former “CBS Evening News” and “Today” anchor explained in an essay published Wednesday by Katie Couric Media, where she first shared her diagnosis, Couric learned of the cancer after a mammogram in June. She had missed a routine screening that should have taken place about eight months into the pandemic.
“I was six months late this time around. I shudder to think what might have happened if I had delayed it any longer,” she wrote, encouraging people to attend their own projections and to schedule additional tests if necessary.
In the personal essay and on her essay and on Instagram, Couric, who is 65, shared information about the prevalence of breast cancer.
“Every two minutes, a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States. On June 21, I became one of them,” she wrote in a shared social media post. Wednesday morning. “As we approach #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth, I wanted to share my personal story with all of you and encourage you to get screened and understand that you might belong to a category of women who need more than just a mammogram.”
Couric’s family members have battled various forms of cancer in the past, including several immediate relatives. In 1998, the journalist’s husband, Jay Monahan, died of stage 4 colon cancer at the age of 42. His sister, Emily, died of pancreatic cancer aged 54, and his mother and father were diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and prostate cancer, respectively.
Despite her family’s medical history, Couric said she was initially surprised by her own diagnosis given that the breast cancer “was new”. She later discovered that 85% of those diagnosed in the United States had no family history.
“People who are going through a cancer experience, whether they are patients or caregivers, really need the support of other patients who have been through it.” said Couric during an appearance on “CBS Mornings” in 2019.
“Unless you walk through it, you really don’t understand what it is,” she continued. “And I remember Jay saying to me, ‘Having cancer is the loneliest experience in the world.’ Which made me so sad because I couldn’t help him, he felt so alone.”
Couric’s latest round of debarments came on Tuesday.
“It looks like I sunbathed topless on my left breast, but other than that, I feel great,” she said.