Katie Couric has been diagnosed with breast cancer and is currently undergoing treatment.
The 65-year-old journalist revealed in a personal essay on her website that she was diagnosed with breast cancer in June, and has since undergone surgery and radiation to treat the disease.
Couric, a mother of two, said she underwent what she thought would be a routine mammogram in June, after unknowingly missing her annual screening for two years during the coronavirus pandemic. After a follow-up biopsy on her left breast, Couric said she received a call from her doctor with the diagnosis.
“I felt sick and the room started to spin,” Couric wrote. “…I walked to a corner and spoke quietly, my mouth unable to keep up with the questions swirling in my head.”
Since the diagnosis in June, Couric said she has undergone a lumpectomy and several weeks of radiation to treat what her doctors diagnosed as stage 1A breast cancer.
She said the lumpectomy revealed a 2.5-centimeter tumor, or about one inch.
Regarding her radiation treatment, Couric wrote in Wednesday’s essay, “I was warned that I may be fatigued and my skin may turn a little pink. Yesterday was my final round. My left breast does look like I’ve been sunbathing topless, but other than that, I’ve felt fine.”
Couric, who lost her husband, sister and mother-in-law to cancer, said she felt grateful for all the advancements made in breast cancer research over the last several decades.
“I can’t tell you how many times during this experience I thanked God that it was 2022…,” she wrote. “…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.”
Couric shared her diagnosis on the eve of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is observed every October.
Breast cancer is the second-most common cancer among women in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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