Alex Trebek gives health update 1 year after announcing stage 4 pancreatic cancer
"I'd be lying if I said the journey had been an easy one," he said.
"Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek gave an update on his battle with pancreatic cancer in new video Wednesday.
In the video, shared a year after the esteemed host announced his stage 4 diagnosis, he said the one-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer patients is 18% and he's "very happy" to announce he has "reached that marker."
He admits that he has struggled often with his illness.
"I'd be lying if I said the journey had been an easy one," he said. "There were some good days, but a lot of not-so-good days."
In September 2019, Trebek told "GMA" that he would be undergoing another round of chemotherapy, and in the new video he offered an update on how he is coping.
"I joked with friends that the cancer won't kill me, the chemo treatments will," he shared. "There were moments of great pain, days when certain bodily functions no longer functioned and sudden, massive attacks of great depression that made me wonder if it really was worth fighting on."
He said he was able to get past these feelings.
"That would've been a massive betrayal, a betrayal of my wife and soulmate, Jean, who has given her all to help me survive," he said, adding it would also be a betrayal to his faith, his supporters and to others fighting the illness, looking to him for hope.
Trebek shared a message of hope to those cheering him on and sending him prayers.
"If we, because so many of us are involved in this same situation, if we take it just one day at a time with a positive attitude, anything is possible," he said, promising to keep his supporters posted.
In an interview with "GMA" last year, Trebek spoke about how he was doing before he chose to pursue more chemotherapy.
"I was doing so well. And my numbers went down to the equivalent of a normal human being who does not have pancreatic cancer," he said. "So we were all very optimistic. And they said, 'Good, we're gonna stop chemo, we'll start you on immunotherapy.'"
He then revealed that things got worse.
"I lost about 12 pounds in a week. And my numbers went sky high, much higher than they were when I was first diagnosed," he shared. "So, the doctors have decided that I have to undergo chemo again and that's what I'm doing."
Throughout his time fighting the disease, Trebek has made efforts to raise awareness for more education to be placed on the "risks and symptoms" of pancreatic cancer.
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