NY Anchor Shares News of Her Cancer Battle
/WPIX Anchor Kaity Tong shared some news that she had lung cancer.
She has handled the situation with amazing grace, and we want to share what she wrote.
Hello from Home.
I have some news to share with you. I was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. Me, a nonsmoker my entire life! But the doctors told me this diagnosis is increasingly common among Asians, especially women, who are nonsmokers. That would be me. And maybe that’s YOU.
And that’s why I’m sharing this.
If this profile fits you, I urge you to talk to your doctor and determine if you should be tested , even if you have no symptoms. It was through a routine chest X-ray after a particularly bad cold that my cancer was detected.
Lung cancer is a killer. But if you detect it early, the chances of survival are greatly increased.
I was lucky. Stage One. So the cancer was found before it had a chance to spread. I had robotic surgery to remove the tumor. I am now recovering at home. It’s a slow but steady recovery, mostly to restore my breathing to normal and to help my lungs compensate for the loss of one lobe. Baby steps. I’ve been off the air at @pix11news for a few weeks now and hope to be back on the air by mid-January.
I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to my surgeon Dr. James Isbell and his team and to the wonderful staff who took such good care of me during my stay at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Dr. Isbell tells me I am now cancer-free. No chemo or radiation needed. And a very low chance of recurrence.
I want to thank all of you for letting me share this news. If my journey helps even one person who fits this profile to get tested, leading to early detection, I will be grateful.
Wishing you all a very Healthy and Happy Holiday Season!
Kaity