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Lately, I’ve been savoring every last piece of good news I can get my hands on, as it can be super draining when all you read are articles that all seem to be engaged in some sort of weird arm race to make as many people as bummed out as possible.
That’s why I’m always on the hunt for something that’ll cleanse the palate a bit. Bees dying at a slightly slower rate than they were last year? Works for me. Guy Fieri doing yet another thing that proves he’s a solid dude? Very here for it. A video of an animal doing something you wouldn’t traditionally expect an animal to do? Now that’s what I’m fucking talking about.
Today’s uplifting hit comes courtesy of Alex Trebek, who has been engaged in a lengthy battle with the stage IV pancreatic cancer that he revealed he’d been diagnosed with last year. Since then, the Jeopardy! host has routinely shared updates about his difficult fight with the disease and received an outpouring of support from both viewers and multiple contestants on the show who have donated some of their winnings in order to aid researchers looking for a cure.
A few months ago, Trebek shared an update on the one-year anniversary of his diagnosis and was incredibly candid about what he’d endured, saying:
“Now, I’d be lying if I said the journey had been an easy one. There were some good days but a lot of not-so-good days. I joked with friends that the cancer won’t kill me; the chemo treatments will. There were moments of great pain, days when certain bodily functions no longer functioned, and sudden, massive attacks of great depression that made me wonder if it really was worth fighting on.”
However, he’s continued to persevere, and on Thursday, he provided an incredibly promising update about his current status while also shedding some light on what Jeopardy! is planning to do after it became impossible to film new episodes.
Oh, and he did it all while rocking an absolutely killer goatee.
Trebek says that he’s been continuing his cancer treatment and that “it is paying off, though it does fatigue me a great deal.” As far as Jeopardy! is concerned, the show will be revisiting old episodes for the first time ever—including his first appearance as a host back in 1984. He also apparently took advantage of the hiatus to write a book that will be released on July 21.
Protect this man at all costs. Alex Trebek is an inspirational figure that everyone can look up to. If he can make it through these hard times while battling cancer, then I’m sure we can figure out how to manage as well.