HOLLYWOOD—The Today Show star Al Roker, 66, just made his first appearance back on TV since having surgery to treat prostate cancer.
“Relieved to let you all know that my #prostatecancer surgery is done and back home. Big shoutout to everyone at the #josierobertsonsurgerycenter and appreciate all the thoughts and wishes from our viewers and the wonderful care packages from my co-workers. Hope to see you all soon” Roker stated in a post on Instagram.
The weather man and co-host rejoined his co-workers on Monday, November 23.
“It was this great relief,” Roker said on TODAY. “For a fresh start, this is terrific news.”
Dr. Vincent Laudone from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center located in New York City performed Al’s procedure. Roker underwent the removal of his prostate along with some surrounding lymph nodes on November 9.
“The prognosis at this point in time based on how the surgery went and based on his pathology report, everything looks very favorable,” Laudone said last week.
Back in late September, Roker shared his diagnosis of prostate cancer with the public. During a physical, Roker’s doctors noticed PSA (prostate- specific antigen) within his blood work. Following the physical was a MRI and official biopsy to confirm diagnosis.
One in seven African American men will be diagnosed with prostrate cancer and one in nine men overall will be diagnosed. Roker stated how he wanted to bring more awareness to the commonality of the disease.
Some early signs or detections include problems urinating or needing to urinate more often predominantly at night, blood in the urine, kidney or flank pain, night sweats, fatigue, weight loss, and bone pains.
“Early detection is important, we got this early unfortunately it’s a little aggressive. There were other options but I decided to be aggressive back against it. It is important to keep a positive attitude when dealing with any disease really. I also have a great support system so I’m a little ahead of the game,” Roker shared on The Today show from A1 studios.
Al has shared that the pathology report in findings of any other indicators of cancer within the prostate are negative, but will continue to be monitored over the next several years.
