Al Roker Announces Post-Surgery ‘Today’ Return And Thanksgiving Parade Plans

Greg Evans
·2 min read
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Today show cohost and weatherman Al Roker plans to be back on the NBC morning show next Monday, he told viewers today while also sharing news that his prognosis after last week’s prostate surgery is “excellent.”

The 66-year-old Roker underwent the five-hour surgery Nov. 9 to remove his prostate and surrounding tissue and lymph nodes at New York City’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Providing an update on his health in an appearance on this morning on Today – watch it below – Roker said, “It was this great relief. For a first start, this is terrific news. I’m going to be up for — and a lot of people who live with cancer — up for lifelong testing to make sure this doesn’t come back.”

Roker said he hopes to back on Today on Monday as well as the network’s coverage of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade next Thursday. (Said Roker about the crowd-free event, “It will be different but it’s happening.”)

Roker was joined on the show today by his surgeon, Dr. Vincent Laudone, who said, “The prognosis at this point in time based on how the surgery went and based on his pathology report, everything looks very favorable. We would say that Al has no evidence of any cancer, but we’ll continue to monitor him for several years.”

Roker said he was back home the day after his surgery, and went for a walk the day after that.

“I feel good,” Roker said. “The technology has gotten so good – they did it with a robot – that I felt much better after the surgery than I did with any of my joint replacements.”

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