Brooke Burke has revealed she has thyroid cancer and will need to have surgery.
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"[That] means I'm going to have a nice, big scar right here across my neck, and I don't get to just walk around and pretend nothing happened or not follow-up or not share it. Because it's going to be pretty much dead-center. And I didn't want anybody to read about it and get the wrong idea or thing that I'm sick, because I'm not."
In fact, according to Burke, she's never felt better.
"I feel really good, and actually I've never felt better, that's what's so crazy about this whole thing," she said.
"You never, ever, ever think some little tiny nodule -- I didn't even know what was going on inside my body, I went for a regular physical and that's how I discovered this... and I never, ever thought I was going to get that phone call with bad news. I guess the truth is I'm always so used to being in control and taking care of everybody and all my kids and now I find myself in this really out of control situation."
While her prognosis is excellent, Burke also acknowledged it took her some time to come to grips with her illness.
"Here's the way I see it: I'm going to make a positive out of this negative thing. I am going to be a really good patient and I am going to do everything I need to do. I booked my surgery and it's taken me a couple months to really wrap my head around this. You know you kind of hear it and you go into denial -- I didn't even tell my mom, I didn't tell anyone," she said.
"Now I'm good and I'm ready to deal with it and I'm going to be fine, and I feel really, really strong. Doctors say that this is a 'good kind of cancer to have' -- that sounds so crazy. But my doctor did tell me that this is a happily ever after ending kind of thing."
Burke did not say when her surgery will take place or whether she would be taking a leave of absence from Dancing with the Stars. However, in a subsequent statement to Reuters, Burke's publicist said her Dancing with the Stars work schedule will not be impacted.
Dancing with the Stars host Tom Bergeron acknowledged he has been aware of Burke's condition for several months during a Thursday appearance on The Talk.
"We are all there with her... 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.
About The Author: Steven Rogers
