Tom Brokaw Opens Up About His Battle With an Incurable Blood Cancer

etonline.com:

Tom Brokaw, the legendary newsman who spent more than five decades at NBC News, is opening up about his experience battling incurable cancer.In a preview of his upcoming interview with 's Jane Pauley, the 83-year-old says doctors didn't think he would make it to that age when he was first diagnosed with multiple myeloma a decade ago.

Brokaw announced the diagnosis in February 2014. As he's gotten older, Brokaw says the blood cancer, which affects bone marrow blood cells, has taken its toll on him.«I've had a bad experience,» he tells his longtime friend about the illness. «I kept thinking bad things wouldn't happen to me.

But as I grew older, I began to develop this condition. And what you try to do is control it as much as you can.»Once NBC's top anchor for two decades, Brokaw recalled having to walk away from the profession he legitimized with his name alone.«I've had to change my life in some way,» he says. «I really had to give up my daily activity with NBC.

You know, I had to walk away from them, as they were walking away from me. I just wasn't the same person… And so for the first time in my life, I was kind of out there, you know, in a place I had never been in my life.»The veteran TV journalist — whose new book,, is a love letter to his hardworking parents and available now — referred to himself as «the luckiest guy I know» when he announced his diagnosis.«With the exceptional support of my family, medical team and friends, I am very optimistic about the future and look forward to continuing my life, my work and adventures still to come,» he said at the time.Brokaw retired from NBC News in January 2021 after 55 years at the network.