“Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek said he is “hanging in” there as he undergoes another round of chemotherapy to treat his cancer.
Speaking to CTV News anchor Lisa LaFlamme on Friday, Trebek — who first underwent chemotherapy for stage 4 pancreatic cancer in March — said he was taking the steps needed to keep fighting the disease.
“So we’re back on the chemo and we’ll see if the numbers go down. And if they do ... they can’t keep doing it forever of course. They’ll have to find a new protocol or whatever to administer,” Trebek told LaFlamme ahead of an appearance at his alma mater, the University of Ottawa. “We’ll play it by ear and keep chugging along until we either win or lose.”
Trebek, who has hosted “Jeopardy!” for 35 years, said he has “lived a good life” and is “not afraid of dying.”
“[I’ve lived] a full life, and I’m nearing the end of that life ... if it happens, why should I be afraid that?” the 79-year-old said. “One thing they’re not going to say at my funeral, as a part of a eulogy, is, ‘He was taken from us too soon.’”
Trebek said in August that he’d “gone through a lot of chemotherapy” but that he’d finished the treatments and was “thankfully … on the mend.” Weeks later, however, he revealed he’d resumed chemotherapy after his “numbers went south.”
“It appears I will be having more chemo treatments ahead of me,” he said last month.
Trebek said Friday that the treatments were “easier” now in some ways because he had a better idea of what to expect.
“Now I know the day after chemo, my eyesight gets messed up a little. The next day after that, I start getting pains in my joints,” he told LaFlamme.
Trebek has received an outpouring of support and encouragement since he went public with his diagnosis.
“I am thankful for the kind words, the prayers and the advice you have offered, and I’m extremely touched by the warmth you have expressed in your comments to me,” he told his fans in March. “I’m a lucky guy.”