Al Roker announced on “Today” that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
“It’s a good news-bad news kind of thing,” Al explained during the November 6 show. “Good news is we caught it early. Not great news is that it’s a little aggressive, so I’m going to be taking some time off to take care of this.”
He will be undergoing surgery next week to have his prostate removed, but he’s already planning his return to TV.
.@AlRoker discusses the surgery he will undergo next week to remove his prostate. pic.twitter.com/hbNolSVUHA
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) November 6, 2020
Al’s doctor Vincent Laudone, who will be performing the surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, also joined him on the “Today” show to discuss his treatment plan.
“Fortunately his cancer appears somewhat limited or confined to the prostate, but because it’s more aggressive, we wanted to treat it, and after discussion regarding all of the different options — surgery, radiation, focal therapy — we settled on removing the prostate,” Laudone shared.
The “Today” meteorologist and co-host said during the show that he wanted to share his diagnosis publicly to encourage people, particularly African American men to get proper checkups.
“The problem for African Americans is that any number of reasons from genetics to access to health care, and so we want to make it available and let people know they got to get checked,” he said.
In the last four years Al has underwent surgeries on his right shoulder, left hip and right knee but he’s ready to battle cancer head-on.
“I don’t want people thinking, ‘Oh, poor Al,’ you know, because I’m gonna be OK,” he said on “Today,”
“You know what? If that’s what it takes to get 2020 out, then let’s just get it outta the way. Boom! Let’s just finish it off. I’m ready. How about you?”
Al Roker Over The Years
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