Alex Trebek Shared An Update On His Battle With Cancer
In early 2019, Canuck quiz show icon Alex Trebek announced he was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and the prognosis wasn’t good. The world wept, including my momma. Alex and Robert Redford are tied for her #1. Since then, Alex has battled excruciating physical pain and depression. After doctors told Alex the cancer was “near remission”, it came back last fall with a vengeance, and he was forced to undergo more chemotherapy.
Now, in an interview with The New York Times to discuss his new memoir, The Answer Is… Reflections on My Life (move over, Mimi!), Alex has revealed that his prognosis has worsened, and, if his current course of treatment fails, he plans to stop treatment altogether. NO, 2020. BAD 2020! STOP, 2020!
Alex told the New York Times (via Vulture):
“Yesterday morning my wife came to me and said, ‘How are you feeling?’ And I said, ‘I feel like I want to die.’ It was that bad,” he said. “There comes a time where you have to make a decision as to whether you want to continue with such a low quality of life, or whether you want to just ease yourself into the next level. It doesn’t bother me in the least.”
Wow. What is… gimme whatever drugs Alex is on, so I, too, can no longer fear death? This brave warrior man went on to say that he wants to keep hosting Jeopardy as long as he can, but:
“He worries that his performance is declining, that he’s slurring his words and messing up clues. ‘It’s a quality program, and I think I do a good job hosting it, and when I start slipping, I’ll stop hosting,’ he said.”
In a video released yesterday, Alex was a little more positive about his future. He said he’s doing well, and that, even though his treatment is exhausting, it’s paying off and his numbers are good. He also announced a four-week retrospective Jeopardy series (since there are no new episodes to air because of COVID-19):
All this cancer talk is a bummer, so let’s end on a positive (far more shallow) note, and dish about how great Alex looks in that video. Seriously, how is this man 79 years of age and fighting for his life? That thick head of hair and matching goatee! Harrison Ford better watch out, because Alex may just take over his role as Sexiest Pepaw Alive!
Pic: Wenn.com