"Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts made a triumphant return to work today, after undergoing breast cancer surgery on Aug. 3.
Roberts looked healthy and happy as she took her seat next to Diane Sawyer, and almost seemed surprised herself to back in the saddle so soon.
"One of the things people asked me when they heard I was having surgery was, "when are you coming back?" Roberts remarked to Sawyer. "I was like, 'I...I don't know, this is totally new territory for me.'"
Roberts, 46, spent last week at home with family and loved ones, recuperating from what the doctors said was a "very successful" surgery. Thousands of well-wishers sent her messages of support over the last week, many of whom were cancer survivors themselves.
Robin explained to viewers this morning that getting back to work was an important part of her recovery process.
"What I learned from my doctor and from your emails and from people I've met on the street, is that getting back to a regular routine -- that's what you need," she said. "To get back to doing the things that you normally do."
Roberts heeded that advice, and she took inspiration from the many women fighting cancer and trying to maintain a normal life.
"It's a journey many have travelled before me with such grace," said Roberts, as she introduced a feature on women who are "doing more than surviving...they are thriving."
Robin discovered that she had cancer through self-examination, and she told "GMA" viewers when she was diagnosed that the doctors believed they had caught the cancer early.
In light of Robin's return, Dr. Lauren Cassell (Roberts' doctor and chief of breast surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York) stresses the importance of self-examination on "GMA's" Web site today, as well as answering questions about the recovery process.
"The most important thing is self-exams," writes Dr. Cassell, and Roberts wholeheartedly agrees:
"I am so thankful to hear many of you are taking action about your own health — yes!," she wrote last week. "Remember my eighth rule is early detection; it can save your life."