After receiving a bone marrow transplant in September, co-anchor Robin Roberts made a live appearance on "Good Morning America" on Monday and announced her plans to return to the show.
"I’m coming home," Roberts said in a live interview from her New York City apartment. "We’re talking now a matter of weeks, not months."
Roberts, a breast cancer survivor, underwent the transplant to treat myelodysplastic syndrome or MDS, a rare blood disorder that affects the bone marrow. The transplant was a five-minute procedure in which donor cells from Roberts' sister, Sally-Ann, were injected into her system through a syringe.
Roberts' doctors have been carefully tracking her recovery and monitoring her weakened immune system since September, and Roberts celebrated her 100-day benchmark in late December when tests showed no abnormalities. Roberts first announced her diagnosis on "GMA" in July and has been on medical leave since Aug. 30.
"I'm so happy to be sharing this news with everybody,"
Roberts said Monday, adding that she expects be back on the air sometime in February. "We're going to take it step by step. I'm listening to my doctors. I'm taking everything into account but this is a next step and I'm so excited to be sharing it with everyone."
Roberts told her fellow anchors she will be doing a "dry run" next week, coming to the "GMA" studio in Times Square and going through hair and makeup but staying off-air as she adjusts to being back in her surroundings.
“My skin is very sensitive and so we have to see how it reacts to the studio lights," she said. "My vision is still a little blurry from the treatment. All of this is getting better day-by-day so that is the next step."
Keeping Roberts safe from the flu outbreak that's plaguing the country is another concern, said ABC News' chief health and medical editor Dr. Richard Besser, who has been working with Roberts throughout her treatment.
"Her immune system, what protects her from infections, is still rebuilding," he said Monday on the show. "She can’t get a flu shot yet. Her body won’t respond to that. It’s not affecting it which is why it’s important for other people to get that flu shot to protect her and I can’t tell you how many people here at Times Square studio have told me this is the first year they got a flu shot and they got it for Robin."
Roberts tweeted her fellow "GMA" co-anchors last week, writing "See you VERY soon," and prompting speculation about her return.
"I'm excited but there's a range of emotion," Robert said. "I haven't been live on television since the end of August. My heart is beating so fast right now but, you know what, it means I'm alive, I'm alive and I'm so grateful to be excited as I am and I can't wait to be back."
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