Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek is in the midst of a courageous fight against pancreatic cancer. Vanna White of Wheel of Fortune recently took the time to commend Trebek for how well he has handled this situation and how honest he has been with fans throughout this whole harrowing process, according to Fox News .
Dealing with cancer is already an unbelievably scary situation. This process was made even more difficult for Trebek who has to fight the disease while the world watches. This includes dealing with the side effects of chemotherapy while on television. Nevertheless, he has handled it with grace and dignity, as White pointed out.
“I love that he’s honest and open with his fans, because he’s been doing the show for a very long time also and feels very connected to all of his fans and viewers. He is definitely keeping everybody updated on how he’s doing, and I am so proud of him. He’s still working, he’s obviously doing chemotherapy but working through it, and has that strong will to, as we say, the show must go on.”
She went on to talk about how Trebek seemed when she visited him recently, noting that the host hasn’t lost his positive outlook even with all that he’s going through.
Trebek found out that he had stage four pancreatic cancer earlier this year and informed the public of his diagnosis during an episode of Jeopardy! in March. Since then, he has had an outpouring of support from fans and other celebrities. He has continued to do the show even though the chemotherapy he is going through has made this more difficult.
In addition to the exhaustion caused by chemotherapy, the treatment has also led Trebek to develop sores in his mouth. This makes it difficult to enunciate, which is very important in his role. Trebek opened up about his speech problem, explaining that while people have been kind about it so far, they might not be forever.
“There will come a point when they (fans and producers) will no longer be able to say, ‘It’s OK,’” he said.
Despite these hardships, Trebek hasn’t lost his sense of humor throughout this ordeal. Fans were recently happy to see a clip of the television star cracking jokes and laughing while behind the scenes of a DriveTime commercial he was in, as The Inquisitr previously reported. He appeared to be in great spirits, even dancing around at one point.