Fox News host Neil Cavuto has been M-I-A for quite sometime, but finally returned to the desk on Monday.

Cavuto addressed his absence and explained how he landed in the ICU.

“Welcome, everybody, I’m Neil Cavuto…substituting today for…well, Neil Cavuto!

It seems very weird saying that, especially when so many of you have gotten used to, and really enjoyed David Asman and Jackie DeAngelis and Ashley Webster hosting this show. And Sandra Smith and Charles Payne or Edward Lawrence hosting on FOX News. My thanks to each and all of them. You know, they upended their lives and schedules and all their family commitments to cover for me and be there for you. As did my incredible staff.

But I’m back. 

So tell the truth. A lot of you didn’t think you would see this day, did you? And now you’re relieved, I bet even overjoyed, probably pinching yourself, aren’t you? 

…like Lisa who wrote that she feared I had died, “…and Fox just forgot to say anything about it.” 

And, I suppose, there are some of you, who, like Tina, didn’t care either way. As she put it, “It’s very easy not to miss Cavuto.”  

Or Janice, who kindly noted, “Dead or alive, as long as he isn’t on my TV, it’s a good day.” Well then, sorry about today, Janice. 

Then, of course, there is Alex who wondered if something sinister was afoot. “What are they hiding? Why is Fox not saying anything?” Well first off, Alex, because I asked them not to say anything. They were honoring my wishes, out of respect for my privacy, even though they were getting a lot of heat trying to protect my privacy. 

I wasn’t really hiding anything. I just felt I wasn’t the story. The stories on this show were and are the story. It’s about you, it’s not about me. Just like this show. My opinions don’t matter. You matter. The news matters. 

But this did drag on a long time for me. So you really do deserve an explanation “from” me. 

So here goes…I did get Covid again…but a far, far more serious strand…what doctors call Covid pneumonia. It landed me in Intensive Care for quite a while and it really was touch-and-go. Some of you who’ve wanted to put me out of my misery darn near got what you wished for! So, sorry to disappoint you! 

But no, the vaccine didn’t cause that. That grassy knoll theory has come up a lot. My very compromised immune system did. Because I’ve had cancer and right now I have Multiple Sclerosis, I’m among the vulnerable three percenters or so of the population that cannot sustain the full benefits of a vaccine. In other words, it simply doesn’t last.

But let me be clear, doctors say had I not been vaccinated at all, I wouldn’t be here. It provided some defense, but that is still better than no defense. Maybe not great comfort for some of you. And frankly, not great comfort for me either!

This was scary. How scary? I’m talking, ‘Ponderosa suddenly out of the prime rib in the middle of the buffet line scary!’ That’s how scary.

No matter, I’m not here to debate vaccinations for you. Just offer an explanation for me. I owed you that. 

I didn’t want to become the story, but for many of you, I did.  

So, now you know the story. Time to get back to far more important matters. And now…I will.”