ABC's Amy Robach to have double mastectomy

[November 12, 2013]  NEW YORK (AP) -- A month after undergoing a mammogram on "Good Morning America," ABC's Amy Robach said Monday she has breast cancer and will have a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery this week.

The 40-year-old correspondent admitted she had been reluctant to have the public mammogram but went ahead after "GMA" anchor Robin Roberts told her that if the story saved one life, it would be worth it.

"It never occurred to me that life would be mine," she said.

Robach joined ABC in 2012 from NBC, where she was a "Weekend Today" host. She logged considerable time with the cast of ABC's top-rated morning show, filling in for Roberts, who has fought back from a serious blood and bone marrow disease.

Producers chose her for the mammogram story because, at 40, she's at the age when it's recommended that women regularly check for breast cancer. Married with two children and a full-time job, Robach said she had found plenty of reasons to put it off.

In her original story, she emerged from her mammogram telling Roberts and her "GMA" colleagues that it hurt much less than she thought it would.

A few weeks later, she returned for what she thought would be some follow-up images, only to learn she had cancer. Her husband, who had been away on business, and her parents flew in that night "and we started gearing up for a fight."

She said she will learn after Thursday's surgery what her treatment will entail going forward.

Robach said she was told that when someone gets cancer, many lives around them are saved because people are vigilant and get checkups.

"I can only hope my story will do the same and inspire every woman who hears it to get a mammogram, to take a self-exam," she said. "No excuses. It is the difference between life and death."

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[Associated Press; By DAVID BAUDER]

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