After Daughter’s Health Scare, Does ‘Today’ Host Hoda Kotb Want to Step Back From Work? How Health Challenges Can Impact Entire Family

Kotb, 58, has two adopted daughters, 6-year-old Haley and 3-year-old Hope with her ex-fiancé.

“Hoda is a very hands-on mother, and she doesn’t want to leave ‘Today’, but she has been reconfiguring her approach to work so that she can focus more on her daughters,” the source added.

During her three-week absence from the show, co-hosts indicated she was dealing with a family matter. Of course, longtime fans of Kotb hoped for the best.

“God bless you and your Family Hoda. Whatever the situation know that God is in control,” Peggy Giles commented in a Facebook post.

Upon her return, Hoda said of her daughter Hope, “To watch her go through a difficult time at just 3 years old is really tough for any parent, cause you’re helpless.”

While we don’t know what kind of health condition young Hope battled, it’s clear the impact of her illness was felt deeply by her mom and older sister.

While sharing some details about her absence from the show, Kotb also revealed she struggled to balance older daughter Haley’s needs while tending to Hope.

“I was even thinking this too. You know, Hope hasn’t been feeling great, and all the attention’s on Hope and Haley wonders too. Like, ‘I’m here, see me. I need something, too. Carry me. Do what you’re doing for Hope.”

Health Challenges Can Bring Families Closer

As Kotb’s situation highlights, when someone in the home is severely ill or diagnosed with a disease or cancer, it impacts the entire family.

Research published in The Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine studied the impact of disease on family members. It found, “Most chronic diseases have similar effects on family members including psychological and emotional functioning, disruption of leisure activities, effect on interpersonal relationships, and financial resources.”

Feelings of “helplessness, lack of control…guilt, anger, embarrassment” are some common emotions parents, siblings, and other relatives within the household of someone battling a health condition may experience according to researchers.

Other ways a disease, for example, may impact the lives of family members include:

• Affecting sleep
• Concerns about medical treatment
• Altered food choices
• Using religion, spiritual and cultural beliefs to cope
• Feeling obligated to provide a case
• Concerns about understanding the disease or illness
• Needing support from others
• Limited freedom
• Worrying about the death of a loved one

A study published in Health Expectations, an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy, says parents bear the brunt when a child is battling a health condition.

“Parents have substantial responsibilities…including advocating for their child,” researchers in the study said.

“[Parents] responsibilities have an enormous impact on the family: going out of the home becomes a challenge, there are constant constraints on time, parents are sleep-deprived and there are wider impacts on siblings,” researchers added.

Jayne Wexler’s son is a childhood cancer survivor and she explained to SurvivorNet the impact cancer can have on parents.

“When we were in the hospital we met a lot of couples, and a lot of people don’t stay together because they can handle this,” Jayne told SurvivorNet. “Fortunately, we [she and her husband] were very strong and we stayed together.”

Our experts agree that forming a strong support system between each other can help everyone cope with the challenges. These situations can be opportunities to strengthen families and bring them closer together.

And finding moments of joy — whether that’s a hobby or a walk in the park — are critical in helping you keep your body and mind healthy during the journey too.

Now when it comes to Hope, Kotb credits her resilience and strength for making it through.

“My daughters are strong women already. You know, my daughter, Hope had a health scare, but she’s getting better,” Kotb said.

And knowing what Kotb went through herself with breast cancer, it’s clear young Hope got her strength from her mom.

Hoda’s Own Health Journey

Kotb is a breast cancer survivor after being first diagnosed in 2007.

Her doctors discovered lumps in her breast tissue during a routine exam. She treated her breast cancer by undergoing a mastectomy, which means one of her breasts was removed. She then had breast reconstruction surgery, which rebuilds the shape and look of the breast.

After surgery, the beloved news anchor continued her treatments by taking the drug tamoxifen (Nolvadex) for five years. Tamoxifen is a selective estrogen receptor modulator – which means it works to prevent estrogen from helping cancer cells to grow.

It is also used to prevent breast cancer among women who are at high risk for breast cancer because of family history.

There are side effects for some patients, many of which mimic menopause (like hot flashes), but they can be managed.

WATCH: What is Tamoxifen for Breast Cancer?

Kotb previously told “Prevention,” an online health news resource, she is cancer free.

“Cancer shaped me, but it did not define me. It’s part of me, but not all of me,” Kotb previously said at the annual Breast Cancer Research Foundation New York Symposium and Awards Luncheon in 2017.

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