Brooke Burke. Photo MCT
"Dancing with the Stars" co-host Brooke Burke says she
has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and will need surgery.
The television presenter and model said in a three-minute
video posted on the website Modernmom.com that she will need
her thyroid removed.
"I need to have thyroid surgery and a thyroidectomy, which
means I'm going to have a nice, big scar right here on neck,"
Burke said, drawing a finger across her throat.
Burke, a former winner of ABC's celebrity ballroom dancing
competition, said she had a biopsy in July, but it had taken
her months to go public with the results.
"I'm ready to deal with it, and I'm going to be fine," she
said.
There was no word on when the surgery would take place, but
Burke's publicist said her work schedule for "Dancing with
the Stars" would not be affected.
Burke, 47, said in July that her doctor suggested she undergo
a thyroid ultrasound after he felt a lump in her neck during
a routine physical.
The thyroid is a gland in the neck that produces hormones
that regulate vital body functions, such as heart rate and
blood pressure.
Burke's co-host Tom Bergeron said on Thursday during an
appearance on the CBS chat show "The Talk" that he had known
about her condition for several months. "We are all there
with her," he said.
"I've known about this for a few months ... I have had
experience with this in my family. You never want to hear the
word cancer. But thyroid cancer is one of the most treatable
cancers. It has an incredibly high success rate," he said.
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