Alex Trebek reveals that some of his tumors have shrunk by '50 percent', credits positive energy and prayers of fans for recovery
Alex Trebek revealed recently that some of his tumors have shrunk by "50 percent". The 'Jeopardy' host, who shocked his fans when he revealed that he was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer three months ago, said that he's responding well to chemotherapy and he is in “near remission,” according to doctors.
"It’s kind of mind-boggling,” the 78-year-old told People magazine. Although the cancer gives just 9 percent survival rate to patients, Trebek has been responding very well to chemotherapy. “The doctors said they hadn’t seen this kind of positive result in their memory…some of the tumors have already shrunk by more than 50 percent.”
However, that still does not mean the longtime host is totally out of the woods yet. During his interview, Trebek further clarified that he’ll still have to go through several more rounds of chemotherapy to hopefully get into full remission, adding that he’s elated at how far he’s come.
On learning about the good news, Trebek said he got quite emotional. “But they were tears of joy, not tears of depression,” he admitted. As fans would know, Trebek has been quite open and honest about experiencing moments of deep sadness during the past three months.
Talking about why he thinks he’s doing so well with the chemotherapy, which has left him weak and occasionally depressed, Trebek credited well wishes from fans and friends around the world.
“I’ve got a couple million people out there who have expressed their good thoughts, their positive energy directed towards me and their prayers,” he said.
Trebek added, “I told the doctors, this has to be more than just the chemo, and they agreed it could very well be an important part of this. I’ve got a lot of love out there headed in my direction and a lot of prayer, and I will never ever minimize the value of that.”
The game show host surprised audiences at the 2019 Daytime Emmy Awards with his award acceptance speech, saying that he was hoping to not win for fear the award would be seen as a sign of sympathy.
Trebek, who accepted the award for Outstanding Game Show Host, said: "I was concerned that sympathy might play a big role."
"I'm not a fan of sympathy votes, because I believe you should be judged on the merits of your work," added the television personality.
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