Katie Couric: 'If I Could Say Something to My Younger Self'

Article

The legendary broadcast journalist Katie Couric opened up about what she wishes she’d known and wishes she could tell her younger self when her husband was first diagnosed with cancer.

Katie Couric lost her husband and her sister to cancer within years of each other.

The legendary broadcast journalist spoke with CURE® about what she wishes she’d known and wishes she could tell her younger self when her husband was first diagnosed with cancer.

Couric says she would encourage her younger self and others to cherish every moment. “I think I would have said (to myself), ‘Don’t waste time being mad or getting put off.’ … All those times where I felt like maybe I was not generous enough with my love. If I had known that I’d only have Jay until he was 42 years old, I think it would have woken me up about the importance of being kind and giving.”

Related Videos
Jessica McDade, B.S.N., RN, OCN, in an interview with CURE
For patients with cancer, the ongoing chemotherapy shortage may cause some anxiety as they wonder how they will receive their drugs. However, measuring drugs “down to the minutiae of the milligrams” helped patients receive the drugs they needed, said Alison Tray. Tray is an advanced oncology certified nurse practitioner and current vice president of ambulatory operations at Rutgers Cancer Institute in New Jersey. If patients are concerned about getting their cancer drugs, Tray noted that having “an open conversation” between patients and providers is key. “As a provider and a nurse myself, having that conversation, that reassurance and sharing the information is a two-way conversation,” she said. “So just knowing that we're taking care of you, we're going to make sure that you receive the care that you need is the key takeaway.” In June 2023, many patients were unable to receive certain chemotherapy drugs, such as carboplatin and cisplatin because of an ongoing shortage. By October 2023, experts saw an improvement, although the “ongoing crisis” remained. READ MORE: Patients With Lung Cancer Face Unmet Needs During Drug Shortages “We’re really proud of the work that we could do and achieve that through a critical drug shortage,” Tray said. “None of our patients missed a dose of chemotherapy and we were able to provide that for them.” Tray sat down with CURE® during the 49th Annual Oncology Nursing Society Annual Congress to discuss the ongoing chemo shortage and how patients and care teams approached these challenges. Transcript: Particularly at Hartford HealthCare, when we established this infrastructure, our goal was to make sure that every patient would get the treatment that they need and require, utilizing the data that we have from ASCO guidelines to ensure that we're getting the optimal high-quality standard of care in a timely fashion that we didn't have to delay therapies. So, we were able to do that by going down to the minutiae of the milligrams on hand, particularly when we had a lot of critical drug shortages. So it was really creating that process to really ensure that every patient would get the treatment that they needed. For more news on cancer updates, research and education, don’t forget to subscribe to CURE®’s newsletters here.
Dr. Andrea Apolo in an interview with CURE
Dr. Kim in an interview with CURE
Dr. Nguyen, from Stanford Health, in an interview with CURE
Dr. Barzi in an interview with CURE
Related Content
Illustration of a woman with sunglasses on her head.

The Hard Truth About My Child’s Cancer

May 8th 2024
Article

As a society, we shouldn't accept the "norm" of people younger than 50 receiving diagnoses or dying from cancer.

Read More

CURE Cancer Horizons podcast logo

Prostate Cancer Headlines, CAR-T Warnings and Laughter Therapy

January 29th 2024
Podcast

CURE® editors discuss last week’s biggest cancer headlines, from Dexter Scott King’s death to the potential of laughter therapy to boost quality of life.

Listen

Illustration of a woman with brown hair and a pink scarf.

Grateful for My Sister’s Life, Especially During a Cancer Recurrence

May 1st 2024
Article

Through so many cancer scares, I'm trying to live in gratitude that my sister's time is not now.

Read More

Exploring the Dynamics of a Male Cancer Caregiver in a Society That Encourages Men to Be Independent

Exploring the Dynamics of a Male Cancer Caregiver in a Society That Encourages Men to Be Independent

February 17th 2022
Podcast

In this episode of the “Cancer Horizons” podcast, the founder of Jack’s Caregiver Coalition, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting men throughout the caregiving experience, explores the layered sociological factors which can affect men in unique ways when they are supporting a loved one with cancer.

Listen

Image of a caregiver with a patient with cancer.

To Be a Caregiver for My Husband

April 5th 2024
Article

When I was my husband's caregiver, I tried to make things comfortable, but I'm not sure if the drugs and bedpans could ever make it right.

Read More

Image of a patient in a wheel chair with their caregiver beside them.

Supportive Care Matters ‘The Minute You Get Diagnosed’ With Cancer

March 28th 2024
Article

Experts from City of Hope explain the importance of symptom management and care planning during cancer.

Read More