After she put off getting a mammogram for over a year, ABC’s Amy Robach was persuaded to do so on-air for Good Morning America’s Pink Day – and the assignment saved her life.
On Monday’s Good Morning America, Amy Robach shared shocking news: The on-air mammogram she completed for the show in early October revealed that she does, in fact, have breast cancer. She’ll be going in for a bilateral mastectomy, followed by reconstructive surgery, on November 14.
“Only then will I know more about what that fight will fully entail, but I am mentally and physically as prepared as anyone can be in this situation,” she said in a post on ABC News.
She’d been putting off getting a mammogram with no way of knowing she was in a life-or-death situation. Like many women, the responsibilities of career and family came first – there was always a reason to put it off. Because of her lifestyle, she considered it impossible that the test would come back positive:
“I work out, I eat right, I take care of myself and I have very little family history; in fact, all of my grandparents are still alive.”
It was GMA host (and cancer survivor) Robin Roberts who put it into perspective for Robach: “If one life is saved, it’s worth it.” Her words resonated and Robach agreed to take the test on-air. Little did she realize at the time that the one life saved would be her own.
The doctors told her bluntly the mammogram saved her life, and she’s beyond grateful to everyone who encouraged her to do it – especially since she wasn’t planning to have it done anytime soon.
“For every person who has cancer, at least 15 lives are saved because people around them become vigilant… I can only hope my story will do the same and inspire every woman who hears it to get a mammogram, to take a self-exam. No excuses.”
How has Amy Robach sharing her story impacted you?
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