Katie Couric shared an essay detailing her breast cancer diagnoses and treatment so far urges readers to get their annual mammograms.
“Every two minutes, a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States,” Couric, 65, wrote on Instagram.
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Katie’s physician discovered a mass that after a biopsy was confirmed to be a tumor. Couric received her diagnosis via phone during her first day back “in a very long time” at the Katie Couric Media office.
“I felt sick and the room started to spin,” she said.
“I walked to a corner and spoke quietly, my mouth unable to keep up with the questions swirling 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?”
The former talk-show host also recalled breaking the news to her daughters, who “began to cry” as Couric “tried to be … reassuring.” Their father, attorney Jay Monahan, died of colon cancer in 1998.
“They’d already lost one parent,” Couric wrote. “The idea of losing another was unfathomable.”
“Throughout the process, I kept thinking about two things: how lucky I was to have access to such incredible care, since so many people don’t, and how lucky I was to be the beneficiary of such amazing technology,” Couric said.
“It made me feel grateful and guilty — and angry that there’s a de facto caste system when it comes to healthcare in America.”
“The initial experience was a shock, a shock to my womanhood,” she told People.
“I didn’t believe them, but when they showed me the CT scan, I went, ‘Oh my word.’ The first questions were, ‘Am I going to live?’ I just fell into my husband’s arms. It still takes my breath away when I think about it.”
