Journalist Katie Couric reveals she has breast cancer

• Journalist Katie Couric lost her first husband to cancer.
• «I ask all women to have annual mammograms to prevent this disease.»
• She broke the news on Instagram and in an essay on her website.

American journalist and TV host Katie Couric revealed her breast cancer diagnosis in a moving personal essay. The 65-year-old opened up about the diagnostic process and urged her readers to get regular mammograms.

A routine mammogram revealed an abnormality in her breast that required further examination. After a biopsy, she discovered it was breast cancer. Couric lost her first husband many years ago to colon cancer. She also wrote about her family’s history of cancer.

Katie Couric reveals her breast cancer diagnosis

«Please get your annual mammogram,» Couric wrote in an essay on her website. “ 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.” Couric wrote about her family’s history of cancer (her mother had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and her father had prostate cancer) and how that led her to think, “Why would I be spared? My reaction went from “Why me?” to “Why not me?’”

“I was in the middle of an open office, so I walked to a corner and spoke quietly, my mouth unable to keep up with the questions spinning in my head. ‘What does this mean? Will I need a mastectomy? Will I need chemo? What will the next weeks, months, even years look like? What will the next few weeks, months and even years look like?’”

Katie Couric lost her first husband to cancer

Additionally, the author’s first husband, Jay Monahan, died of colon cancer in 1998. The couple was married since 1989 and had two children: writer-director Ellie Monahan, 31, and Caroline Couric Monahan, 26. Cancer has been very present in her life.

On July 14, Couric underwent a lumpectomy and doctors removed a 1-inch tumor «about the size of an olive.» Lumpectomy is a surgical technique for the resection of a tumor mass or a localized tumor. FILED UNDER: Katie Couric has breast cancer

Couric thanked her doctors

The host reflected on how she is grateful to have been diagnosed in 2022, saying several times that she «quietly thanked all the dedicated scientists who have been working hard to develop better ways to test for and treat breast cancer.»

«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.» FILED UNDER: Katie Couric has breast cancer