WGCL (Atlanta) Chief Meteorologist Jennifer Valdez has been off the air while she recovers from major back surgery.

“I’ll have a good day, then feel awful for three,” said Valdez to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Valdez said she’s had a deteriorating disk in her lower back for years and knew she’d need surgery at some point. 

But as a busy 39-year-old working mom with two young kids, she said she kept putting off the inevitable. “Between personal and work life,” she said, “there no good time.”

By this spring, she could no longer unload the dishwasher or clean the coffee table without cringing. So last month, she finally decided to get artificial disc replacement surgery using titanium plates.  

Last month, Valdez flew to Plano and got the surgery done at the Texas Back Institute. 

The recovery has been painful. “I can’t bend over the sink to brush my teeth,” she said. “I have to do this log roll in and out of bed... It’s driving me crazy. It’s hard to do nothing.” 

But, Valdez is still hoping to be back on the air by the end of the month.

FTVLive wishes her well in her recovery.

H/T Rodney Ho