Al Roker is on the mend.
The TODAY co-host gave an update Thursday on Instagram after he underwent total shoulder replacement surgery on Wednesday at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.
Watch TODAY All Day! Get the best news, information and inspiration from TODAY, all day long.
Al, wearing a mask and blue eyeglasses, started off noting the downpour that hit the Big Apple before elaborating on the difficulty of the procedure, especially compared to other surgeries he’s had.
“Well, I am not gonna lie. It is raining like crazy outside. But, anyway, this one, this surgery, as opposed to hip, knees, rotator cuff — this one was tough,” he said.
Al, 65, said he had to bail on a planned appearance on TODAY to let viewers know how he was doing, while he also vowed to remain on point with his pain medication.
“This morning, I was in some pain. I was going to show up on the TODAY show to update folks, but I thought, ‘Nope, this is not gonna work,’” he said.
“So, I had my first PT session and I got ahead of myself now with my medication. I kind of let that slip. Once the nerve block wore off, I was in a lot of pain, so I learned my lesson. Stay ahead with my meds and have my PT session and, you know, got a couple more meetings and hopefully discharged by around noon or so. Anyway, just wanted to give you a little update. Bye.”
Al revealed earlier this week on the 3rd hour of TODAY that he would be having the surgery because of arthritis in his right shoulder.
"It's not bad during the day, but at night it's an intense pain that literally wakes me up," he said. "For the last month, I've only been sleeping about two or three hours a night, which even for me is a little bit less."
Last September, Al was up and walking one day after he underwent hip replacement surgery.
"I'm in far less pain than I was 48 hours ago," he said on TODAY. "The best thing is to just get up and move and be able to walk."
In 2016, Al had knee replacement surgery and in 2014 he underwent surgery for a damaged rotator cuff.
