Alex Trebek shared a candid one-year health update with his fans on the milestone he has reached in his battle with cancer.
The “Jeopardy!” host posted a video message on Wednesday, just one year after revealing his stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis, recalling the good and “not-so-good days” along the way.
(Source: YouTube)
“If you’ve got a minute, I’d like to bring you up to date on my health situation,” Trebek said in a video clip which has been viewed over one million times on the official “Jeopardy” Twitter account.
“The one-year survival rate for stage 4 pancreatic cancer is 18 percent. I’m very happy to report I have just reached that marker,” he said.
“Now I’d be lying if I said the journey had been an easy one,” Trebek continued. “There were some good days but a lot of not-so-good days. I joked with friends that the cancer won’t kill me; the chemo treatments will.”
The game show host, who has been a “Jeopardy” fixture since 1984, first announced in March 2019 that he was undergoing treatment for cancer and, by May, he shared that it was in near remission. However, in September he revealed he had been “premature and certainly over-optimistic” and had to resume chemotherapy treatments.
(Source: YouTube)
In the new video, Trebek revealed that in the past year, he encountered “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.”
But he admitted that he had to press on rather than risk a “betrayal” of his fans and supporters, especially his wife, and of other cancer patients.
“But I brushed that aside quickly because that would have been a massive betrayal — a betrayal of my wife and soulmate, Jean, who has given her all to help me survive. It would have been a betrayal of other cancer patients who have looked to me as an inspiration and a cheerleader of sorts of the value of living and hope, and it certainly would have been a betrayal of my faith in God and the millions of prayers that have been said on my behalf,” Trebek said.
He noted that his oncologist had recently offered some words of encouragement.
“You know my oncologist tried to cheer me up the other day. He said, ‘Alex, even though the two-year survival rate is only 7 percent,’ he was certain that one year from now, the two of us would be sitting in his office celebrating my second anniversary of survival,” Trebek said.
“And you know something, if I, no, 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 concluded, adding “I’ll keep you posted.”
Just as Trebek had noted about the support of his fans, they flooded social media with well-wishes for the 79-year-old famed game show host.
These tweets are vey humbling & uplifting..ppl respect & admire ALEX …
— Debra B. Clayton (@debclay5153) March 4, 2020
Keep fighting, Alex. You can and you will beat this!
— Boston the Detroit sports fan. ? (@GirlNamedBoston) March 4, 2020
I will take “Badass of 2020”
Who is the Badass of 2020
What is Alex Trebek.
— finyank13 (@finyank13) March 4, 2020
We are with you, Alex!!! Stay strong friend! ?
— CW (@whiskey_ginger1) March 4, 2020
Love you Alex! You’re a national treasure and you have millions of us in the trenches with you! Keep fighting and we’ll keep praying! ❤️
— Champagne Blonde (@ChampagneSane) March 4, 2020
Thank you Alex for sharing your health update and inspiring the #pancreaticcancer community. We are sending you warm thoughts as you continue your battle. @Jeopardy #WeLoveYouAlex
— PanCAN (@PanCAN) March 4, 2020
I’m looking forward to that two year update. pic.twitter.com/zhMv7YDOwM
— Simone Alexa (@SimoneAlexa) March 4, 2020
Thanks for inspiring others while you fight this illness yourself. Your two year update will be even better. Anything is possible. ??
— Leslie on a Pike ? (@Leslieoo7) March 4, 2020
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