One year has gone by since beloved Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. Now, Trebek is celebrating his 365-day survival with a new video update.
"I'd be lying if I said the journey had been an easy one," he said in the video. "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. There were 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."
Trebek has faced frightening odds of survival since the early days of his diagnosis, and though he has admitted to facing mental health challenges in the wake of his cancer struggle, he remains hopeful for his condition.
"The one-year survival rate of stage four pancreatic cancer patients is 18 percent," he said. "I'm very happy to report I have just reached that marker."
He added: "My oncologist tried to cheer me up the other day. He said, 'Alex, even though the two-year survival rate is only seven 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."
The 79-year-old television host diagnosed with pancreatic cancer back in March 2019. His doctors told him he was "near remission" in May, only for his condition to worsen again in September. Back in November, a contestant on Jeopardy! named Dhruv Gaur used his "Final Jeopardy" response to express his appreciation for the host.
Watch Trebek's newly shared video below.
"I'd be lying if I said the journey had been an easy one," he said in the video. "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. There were 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."
Trebek has faced frightening odds of survival since the early days of his diagnosis, and though he has admitted to facing mental health challenges in the wake of his cancer struggle, he remains hopeful for his condition.
"The one-year survival rate of stage four pancreatic cancer patients is 18 percent," he said. "I'm very happy to report I have just reached that marker."
He added: "My oncologist tried to cheer me up the other day. He said, 'Alex, even though the two-year survival rate is only seven 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."
The 79-year-old television host diagnosed with pancreatic cancer back in March 2019. His doctors told him he was "near remission" in May, only for his condition to worsen again in September. Back in November, a contestant on Jeopardy! named Dhruv Gaur used his "Final Jeopardy" response to express his appreciation for the host.
Watch Trebek's newly shared video below.