Katie Couric announced on Wednesday that she was diagnosed with breast cancer in June and has undergone surgery and radiation treatment. In a first-person essay published on her website, the 65-year-old media personality said she received the Stage 1 diagnosis after missing an annual mammogram.
“I got sick and the room started spinning,” she wrote. “I was in the middle of an open office, so I walked into a corner and spoke softly, my mouth unable to keep up with the questions swirling in my head.”
Couric has been a public advocate for screening since her first husband, Jay Monahan, died of colon cancer in 1998 at the age of 42. In 2000, while working on the show Today, Couric aired a colonoscopy to encourage viewers to do the same. Studies found that the segment led to a significant increase in colonoscopy; in Wednesday’s Post, Couric said the rate was up 20 percent.
More than a decade ago, Couric co-founded the organization Stand Up to Cancer. In 2018, she accompanied TV presenter Jimmy Kimmel to his first colonoscopy, which he also aired on his late-night show.
In addition to Monahan, Couric’s sister Emily and mother-in-law Carol also died of various types of cancer. Couric explained that “others in my family got better results,” including her mother, who kept non-Hodgkin lymphoma “at bay for a decade,” and her father, who had prostate cancer. Couric’s now husband, John Molner, had a tumor removed from his liver just before their wedding in 2014.
“But breast cancer – that was new; I had practically become an expert on colon and pancreatic cancer, but nobody in my family ever had breast cancer,” she recalled of her reaction to her diagnosis. “During that 24-hour whirlwind, I found that 85 percent of the 264,000 American women diagnosed in this country each year have no family history. I clearly had a lot to learn.”
Couric said she had a tumor removed from her breast in mid-July and started radiation therapy a few weeks ago. Tuesday marked her final lap: “I was warned I might be tired and my skin might turn a little pink. … My left boob looks like I went topless in the sun but other than that I’m feeling fine,” she wrote.
Couric struck a similar note to when actress Jane Fonda announced her non-Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis this month, noting how “fortunate” she is to have access to quality care. She felt “grateful and guilty — and angry that America has a de facto caste system when it comes to healthcare.”
She closed the post by urging readers to plan their annual mammograms, which she missed by just six months, and find out if they might need additional screenings.
“To reap the benefits of modern medicine,” she wrote, “we need to stay current with our screenings, stand up for ourselves, and make sure everyone has access to the diagnostic tools that could very well save their lives.”