Katie Couric, 65, Says Her Daughters Have Been ‘Incredibly Supportive’ After Her Breast Cancer Diagnosis, ‘Funny’ Carrie Sang ‘The Arms of an Angel’ to Mom As She Was Wheeled in for Surgery

"I'm feeling just fine," Couric told the TODAY co-hosts on Oct. 3. "I finished radiation last week. They said it makes you tired. I was actually not too tired from it."

Although, Couric admittedly dropped the ball with getting a mammogram on time amid life’s craziness, she is super thankful that she made it in about six months later.

"I just feel super lucky that it was diagnosed when it was, that I went, even though I was late, that I went when I did," she said.

 

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Explaining that she needed time to process her diagnosis  before telling her daughters, she delivered the difficult news with her usual positive demeanor.

“I told them, but I was very reassuring,” she added. “But I saw on their faces, you know, it’s just hard to deliver that news, no matter how you do it. But I assured them that I was going to be fine. And Carrie came with me when I got my lumpectomy, when I was being wheeled into the operating room. She was singing ‘The Arms of an Angel.’ She’s so funny. … They’ve been incredibly supportive.”

Katie’s Breast Cancer Announcement

The Going There author lost her husband, and father of the girls, Jay Monahan to colon cancer in 1998, and initially shared a personal essay of the weight of the situation.

Many patients often say that the toughest part of hearing you have cancer is telling your kidsespecially in Couric's case, when they have already lost one parent to the disease.

"Every two minutes, a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States. On June 21st, I became one of them," Couric wrote on her Instagram with a masked photo of herself, appearing to be in a waiting room.

Related: Katie Couric, 65, Joins With Her Daughter For Cancer Campaign 24 Years After Her Husband's Death

"As we approach #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth, I wanted to share my personal story with you all and encourage you to get screened and understand that you may fall into a category of women who needs more than a mammogram."

Breast Cancer Introduction to Prevention & Screening

What is Katie’s Type of Breast Cancer?

Couric says in her essay she was told by her doctor, Dr. Lisa Newman, a surgical breast oncologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center that her tumor was hormone receptor-positive, HER2/neu-negative and "highly treatable, particularly if it was detected early."

HER2 is a breast cancer that tests positive for a protein called human epidermal growth factor receptor 2. The traditional presence of HER2 has been divided into two groups, either positive or negative. Patients with HER2 positive tumors have tumors that show HER2 over-expression, while patients with HER2 negative tumors show minimal or no expression.

Related: What is the Type of Breast Cancer Classified As HER2/neu?

"We look at HER2/neu independently because we know if it's present in very, very high amounts on the cancer cell, maybe in a third of cases, then we need to target HER2/neu as part of the treatment strategy," says Dr. Ruth Oratz, a breast cancer oncologist at NYU Langone Perlmutter Cancer Center.

Oratz adds, very often when HER2/neu is over-expressed or amplified chemotherapy is given in addition to other treatment options.

In Couric's case it didn't change her treatment path, but for some women there could be a change in treatment based on the category of "HER2/neu."

Katie also shared that she has to take an “aromatase inhibitor,” which lowers the estrogen level in her body.

“The aromatase inhibitors inhibit the growth of any further cancer that may be anywhere in the body and reduces the chances of a completely new one coming up,” Orange County, California surgeon Gregory T. Ginsburg, MD, FACS, tells SurvivorNet.

“So basically, they will treat her for five years and will check her periodically to find any traces of anything showing up,” Dr. Ginsburg explains. “In five years, if nothing turns up, she will likely be declared disease-free. It's an important aspect of a cancer survivor's life, to reach that five-year mark.”

Separate from HER2/neu negative classification is the presence or absence of hormone receptors on the surface of cancer. The two types are:

• Hormone receptor-positive (HR-positive) breast cancer: When the cells use estrogen, progesterone, or both to grow and replicate.
• Triple-negative breast cancer: When the hormone receptors are absent.

It is important to get the genetic testing done to see if you have these genetic mutations.

What Does Your Breast Cancer Diagnosis Mean For Your Daughter?

If you're battling breast cancer, you may need to lean on your mother, or your daughter if you're a mother. Breast cancer warriors may find comfort in this inspiring interview as a mother and daughter tell the story of how their bond grew when one of them started to lose their hair from chemotherapy treatments.

Related: Mother-Daughter Dream Team Battle Breast Cancer Together After Being Diagnosed Two Weeks Apart 'There's Always Someone Who Can Help'

SurvivorNetTV's showing of SN & You Mother-Daughter Bond is a film that explores the mother-daughter relationship through the eyes of Erica Stolper and her mother, Melissa Berry. If you're going through breast cancer treatment, this empowering and hopeful story of Erica and Melissa's bond will bring a smile to your face.

"She's just always there for me whenever something goes wrong," Erica tells us about her mother. "And I think we're both there for each other."

SurvivorNet News Magazine: The Mother-Daughter Bond

For any mother who has a daughter, you know that your bond is unbreakable. When Erica was 7 years old, she found out Melissa had cancer; Melissa was 42 years old and had been diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. Breaking the news to your child that you have cancer can be hard for any parent, but for Erica and Melissa, it was a bonding experience. One morning, Melissa's head was itching from the chemotherapy treatments; she couldn't take it anymore, so she decided to shave her head.

Erica was interested in being a hairdresser at the time, so when she saw her mother shaving her head in their bathroom, it was a dream come true. She happily helped her mother shave her head, who has since recovered from the cancer.

Related: The Strength of a Mother's Love Is On Full Display In New Viral Video Touching Cancer Survivors: 'No One Fights Alone'

"It was the first big step that she really took in her whole journey," Erica says. "It was cool to be a part of it with her."

Thankfully, Couric is likely going to be here for a lot longer for her daughters because she caught her cancer early, which is a model example for all women to get in and get screened.

It's equally as important to educate your daughters about the risks they may face due to your past or present diagnosis.

Related: Genetic Testing for Breast Cancer: What is This Type of Test? And What Do My Results Mean?

Though Couric did not have a family history, and it is still highly possible to get breast cancer without one, it is still crucial to get genetic testing to evaluate your riskand stay on top of your overall health appointments. There are several different genetic tests available to find out if you have the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation, which puts you at higher risk for breast cancer.

If you discover that you do have a mutation, there are options available to manage your cancer risk, such as enhanced screenings or prophylactic (risk-reducing) surgery. Talk to your doctor today about what you can do to help prevent this diagnosis.

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