“Good Morning America” host Robin Roberts is taking an early leave from the ABC morning show, saying that she feels fatigued because of a dangerous condition diagnosed after her bout with breast cancer.
Roberts, 51, said on “GMA” that she isn’t “feeling too well” and that she needed a vacation to get ready for her bone-marrow transplant in late August or early September.
In 2007, Roberts was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. Earlier this year she said she was suffering from Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a disease of the blood and bone.
MDS is a group of disorders that affect the bone marrow, causing it to produce defective blood cells or inadequate numbers of healthy cells. According to the Mayo Clinic, it affects people who have undergone treatment for cancer.
MDS is sometimes difficult to diagnose, but typical signs include fatigue, loss of weight, loss of appetite and anemia. It is also known as pre-leukemia, since it may be a precursor to acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a cancer of the blood cells. It is often treated with a bone-marrow transplant, Roberts’ treatment of choice.
According to statistics from the American Cancer Society, 13,780 cases of AML will be diagnosed this year, and 10,200 people will die from the disease.
Roberts, a respected anchor and newswoman, clearly knows all about the illness she is facing. Yet she’s steadily maintained an optimistic attitude. “Going to finish strong,” she wrote on her twitter account.
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