One year after his pancreatic cancer diagnosis, Alex Trebek is still fighting.
In a hopeful video shared to the Jeopardy Twitter account Wednesday, the longtime host acknowledged a “difficult” and “painful” year.
According to Trebek, the one-year survival rate for stage 4 pancreatic cancer is only 18 per cent.
“I’m very happy to report, I’ve reached just that marker,” he said.
Trebek opened up this time last year about his diagnosis and that he was undergoing treatment for stage 4 pancreatic cancer, which indicated the disease had spread.
In the video, he was frank about the mental and physical challenges he’s faced in the past year.
“There were moments of great pain, and some days where certain bodily functions would no longer function, and sudden, massive attacks of great depression that made me wonder if it was really worth fighting on,” Trebek said.
He has continued to host Jeopardy as he has for 35 years. In May, the Canadian icon talked about how he spent some tapings of the popular game show “writhing in pain.”
But he cited the support of his wife and fans for helping him to move forward and continue fighting. He said the two-year survival rate is only seven per cent, but that his doctor is confident he’ll be giving a two-year update this time next year.
“If we take it just one day at a time, with a positive attitude, anything is possible.”
Following the video, support for Trebek rolled in from fans around the world.
Frankly, we don’t deserve Alex Trebek.
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