Seeing their scars for the first time can be jarring for mastectomy patients—something broadcast journalist Hoda Kotb knows firsthand. On a recent episode of Today with Hoda & Jenna, Kolb opened up about her 2007 breast cancer diagnosis and resulting mastectomy and reconstruction surgeries.
At first, Kotb said she was “horrified” by her new body. But she later changed her mindset.
The 57-year-old credited two people in her life for helping her mend her relationship with her body: a person she’d dated at the time and a friend’s aunt, who also survived breast cancer. “There was a person who was in my life at that time who saw me as really beautiful,” she recalled. “That was his purpose, I think, in my life. I remembered feeling not pretty and not worthy, and somebody doesn’t see the scars…All the sudden your back is straighter, you feel better, and you made it through that hurdle,” she added. “Now I look at my scars, and I’m happy.”
An encounter with a friend’s aunt was equally important to her. She pulled Kotb aside and asked to see her post-surgery scars, revealing her own as well. “It was the first time I had courage…I did [show her my scars], and she goes, ‘Now was that so bad?’” said Kotb. “It was a very poignant and moving moment for me,” she added. “It was a life-changer.”
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