It’s been quite the year for Good Morning America host Robin Roberts. The popular daytime news anchor has been very public about both her “highs” and “lows” throughout 2012.
In June of 2012, Roberts was diagnosed with a potentially deadly blood disease called myelodysplastic syndrome (a disease similar in some ways to leukemia, that effects the bone marrow and complicates the body’s ability to make new blood cells). She went public with the diagnosis on Good Morning America, and announced that she was going to receive a bone-marrow transplant from her sister Sally-Ann Roberts. This diagnosis comes 5 years after the 51-year-old co-anchor was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer.
Robert’s got this horrible news the day after her show Good Morning America beat its main competition the Today Show in ratings for the first time in 16 years.
When it came to her disease - the odds were not in her favor. According to one cancer specialist the bone marrow operation carried a 15% risk of death and only had a 30-40 % chance of actually curing her.
Despite being a risky procedure, having a bone marrow transplant was Roberts only option. There are not any other treatment options for myelodysplastic syndrome.
So here’s the good news – Roberts is reporting that she is feeling better, and her doctors agree. New Year’s Eve marked an important moment in her recovery process. 100 days after receiving the bone-marrow transplant that could save her life, American’s favorite morning news-anchor was reunited with her much-loved dog KJ.
Roberts and her pet dog had to stay apart for 100 days in order to give her immune system time to recover and rebuild itself.
The reunion isn’t just good news for Robin’s mental health, but is a great sign that she is well on her way to recovery.
Good news like this can really help put our back-to-work blues in perspective!
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Robin Roberts