Howard Stern has had Robin Quivers by his side for his radio talk-show for 30 years, but on Monday Quivers revealed it was an unexpected battle with cancer that forced her off the air for a year.
Quivers announced her cancer bout to the public during an emotional segment on Stern’s Sirius XM show.
But when Stern first learned the news a year ago, it was so alarming that it even made him act with fear and compassion.
Stern’s trusty sidekick heard the troubling diagnosis in May 2012, when doctors told her they found a cancerous tumor the size of a grapefruit in her bladder.
At that time the medical experts said her quality of life would never be the same if something wasn’t done immediately. They told Quivers she would have to use two different bags to urinate and defecate, in addition to undergoing chemotherapy treatment if she decided to do so.
She did decide to follow through with treatments, and fortunately she was never as terribly ill as doctors had predicted. Instead, she responded well to the chemotherapy and doctors believe she has made a full recovery and is currently cancer-free.
The good news was not only a major relief for Quivers, but even Stern showed his compassionate side during the emotional segment.
“I gotta be honest,” he said. “I thought she was a goner.”
Quivers admitted that she didn’t really know how much she meant to Stern until the cancer scare.
Quivers called Stern when she got the news and she said his response truly showed her how much he cared.
“Before that conversation was over, I realized how much I meant to you,” she said. “I started to consider living in ways I never thought I would because you loved me so much.”
That’s when Stern opened up on the air and told his listeners that Quivers is truly the brave one of the duo, not him.
“She was my backbone, you understand,” he said. “Where I would lose courage, Robin always had the courage. She always is the brave one. Always the brave one with me. I could go to her, and I could always rely on her.”
Her story supports the claims of bravery. She had to go under the knife for 12 hours to remove the large tumor, in addition to many chemotherapy sessions.
At one point Stern even joked that Quivers “loves chemo,” the way she responded so well to it.
The good news is that with a clean bill of health the radio duo will be back together in the studio again.
In the past year or so many other African-American women in the media, including Oprah Winfrey and Robin Roberts, have also been open out their own battles with cancer.
