"Good Morning America" host Amy Robach underwent an on-air mammogram on Oct. 1 in an effort to help spread awareness about the importance of the life-saving procedure, but soon afterwards, was shockingly diagnosed with breast cancer, according to People magazine.
"I was a little reluctant at first," she told colleague Robin Roberts on the show Monday morning of her decision to have the detection procedure done. "I'm 40, I'm the age and I've been putting it off."
After her colleagues and bosses urged her to get tested, pointing out that she is, at 40, at "the age women should start getting mammograms," Robach finally agreed to get one live on air for GMA to help spread awareness for Breast Cancer Awareness month. After the mammogram, doctors ran additional tests before making the surprising discovery that Robach had breast cancer.
"Between flying all over the world for work, and running around with my kids to school and ballet and gymnastics like so many women, I just kept putting it off," Robach told Roberts, a fellow cancer survivor herself. "It's still hard for me to say the words out loud. I have breast cancer. Telling my children was the toughest part. But that's when you get strong, because you have to be strong for other people."
Robach is married to "Melrose Place" actor Andrew Shue, and has two daughters and three stepsons. Shue joined her on the couch while she made the announcement on television.
While the news of her cancer came to her as a surprise, as she has no family history of the disease and considers herself a generally healthy person, Robach plans to undergo a double mastectomy on Thursday, as she has "decided to very aggressive" going forward.
"I'm so grateful that I got the mammogram that day," she said on GMA, thanking her colleagues for their support. "Robin's words still echo inside of me, 'If I got the mammogram on-air and saved one life then it's all worth it' she had said. It never occurred to me that that life would be mine."
