'Today' Show Star Al Roker Is at Home Recovering After His Prostate Cancer Surgery

From Good Housekeeping

Update, November 17, 2020:

Al Roker is at home recovering after his prostate cancer surgery last week, according to his recent Instagram post. This past Friday, the beloved Today show star shared two pictures (one of himself and his wife, Deborah Roberts, and the other of himself and his son, Nick) post-surgery on the social media site. "A big shoutout to everyone at the #josierobertsonsurgerycenter and so appreciate all the thoughts and wishes from our viewers and the wonderful care packages from my co-workers. Hope to see you all soon," Al wrote in the Instagram caption.

Al has been taking some time off from the Today show after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The 66-year-old weatherman announced his diagnosis on the NBC morning show earlier this month to spread awareness about prostate cancer, which affects one in nine men in the United States (and one in seven African American men), according to the American Cancer Society.

"It's a good news-bad news kind of thing," Al said on the Nov. 6 episode of the show. "Good news is we caught it early. Not great news is that it's a little aggressive, so I'm going to be taking some time off to take care of this."

Al is expected to return to NBC for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade broadcast, according to Variety.

Update, August 12, 2020: Almost a year after having his hip replaced due to osteoarthritis, Al Roker is once again undergoing a procedure due to common arthritis pain. The Today anchor will be off the air for at least the rest of the week after having his shoulder entirely replaced in a surgery on August 12, as it's been planned for a while now. Viewers weren't keyed into Al's plans until very recently, though: The 65-year-old television host first told viewers about his shoulder pain during a 3rd Hour of Today broadcast on August 11.

"It's gotten to the point where I can't even sleep at night," Al shared during a live announcement with his surgeon, Dr. Riley Willams III, of the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. "It's not bad during the day, but at night it's an intense pain that literally wakes me up... For the last month, I've only been sleeping about two or three hours a night, which even for me is a little bit less."

Dr. Williams, who also operated on Al's left shoulder to ease pain in his rotator cuff in 2014, says that the reason for this new surgery is similar to why he had a hip replacement last year. The surgeon hopes this procedure will alleviate general arthritic nerve stress and severe joint pain: "It's really designed to just basically restore the normal joint services so that arthritic, achy pain that he's been having and waking him up at night can go away, and we can kind of get him back on a road to recovery."

Al has been appearing remotely during the pandemic, but it seems that he'll be back on air as soon as next week, if the procedure goes as planned. According to reports from USA Today, Al will need to take up physical therapy for at least 10 days after his surgery, and he'll need to wear an arm sling for three weeks.

Right before his surgery began, Al took a moment to share an update from his hospital bed for Today viewers — and even posted to Instagram (where Today co-host Carson Daly chimed in with a "Good luck, Uncle Al"). Al seemed to be in good spirits before his surgery: "I am ready to get my shoulder finally fixed, as I continue my quest to replace every joint in my body."

Original, September 19, 2019: If you're wondering why Al Roker isn't telling you about the weather in "your neck of the woods" on Today, it's because he is taking care of his health. As revealed on the Today show, Al underwent hip replacement surgery on September 18. It all started about three months ago when Al started feeling a "twinge" in his left hip. Soon after, his back started giving him trouble, making it clear that he needed to go to the doctor. As it turns out, Al has osteoarthritis, which Mayo Clinic defines as the most common form of arthritis that occurs when "the protective cartilage that cushions the ends of your bones wears down over time."

While he said he's not in excruciating pain, Al revealed on Today that his hip definitely "hurts." Walking a lot during his recent trip to Greenland also didn't help. Even still though, he managed to crack a few jokes while relaying the news to his co-stars. "My sister Lisa is having both of hers done so we’ve got a family plan going,” the weatherman joked.

On Instagram Wednesday morning, Al gave fans an update on how he's doing. Around 8 a.m. ET, he was waiting to go into surgery and posted a sweet snap of himself and his wife and ABC News correspondent Deborah Roberts.

"Hellloooooo nurse!!! Thanks, @debrobertsabc for taking care of me," he wrote.

Now that we know where Al Roker is, when will he return to the Today show?

Al said he hopes to be back on the NBC morning show starting Monday, September 30.

Until then though, we'll all be wishing Al a speedy recovery and keeping an eye on his Instagram for more important updates.

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