Survivors Say
Hoda Kotb, fourth-hour co-anchor of NBC’s “Today,”correspondent for “Dateline NBC” and host of the weekly syndicated series “Your Total Health.” As keynote speaker for Anderson Network’s 21st annual Living With, Through and Beyond Cancer conference Sept. 10-12 in Houston, Kotb shared reflections on her breast cancer experience and the inner strength essential throughout treatment and recovery.
I am an apple-eating, Central Park-running, pretty healthy woman. I thought I was living right, but life is funny, isn’t it?
On Sunday everything is perfectly normal. Then on Monday, it’s all turned upside down with a call from the doctor: I had breast cancer and needed a mastectomy.
When it was over, I learned a couple of things. You realize your life is to be valued and not wasted. The mantra becomes “not one more minute.” I will not waste one more minute. I held on tightly to the things I loved and got rid of the things I didn’t.
I also walked away with four wonderful words: “You can’t scare me.” How perfect. No matter what happens in life, if you survive breast cancer, you get that.
Promise invites cancer survivors to share their reflections. E-mail Promise@mdanderson.org.
