Despite his grim diagnosis, Al Roker appeared on the Today show in good spirits to reveal that he was officially diagnosed with prostate cancer. Even though it’s a debilitating disease, Roker admitted it was good news and bad news at the same time.
Movie Web picked up on the new episode of Today in which the 66-year-old weatherman claimed he would be getting surgery next week to have his prostate removed. Reportedly, this will warrant some time off from the television screen.
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Roker said on the show that he wanted to be transparent about his diagnosis as a way of spreading awareness to other men, particularly African-American men, who apparently are diagnosed with prostate cancer at a disproportionate rate.
According to Movie Web, prostate cancer affects 1 in 9 men in general and around 1 and 7 black men. Roker said on the show that it was a “good-news bad-news” type of situation because the good news is they caught it early. The bad news, of course, is the fact he caught it in the first place.
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Dr. Vincent Laudone, a doctor in New York City, will be the one to take care of him as he fights to get better. Laudone also appeared on the program to talk about Roker’s diagnosis and says he’ll be getting surgery next week.
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He claimed the good news is that the cancer is very localized to his prostate, but on account of prostate cancer’s tendency to be aggressive, they have to act quickly to make sure it doesn’t spread to other areas of his body.
Roker chimed in again and said black men were especially at risk and he urged them to check in with the doctor regularly to make sure they don’t have it. If it’s detected, it’s a lot easier to ameliorate in the beginning stages.
After Roker revealed his diagnosis in front of hundreds of thousands of people, he has since received a cascade of support among his fans and social media users. Roker thanked his fans and followers for their support during this difficult time.