Al Roker celebrated his “version of the Thanksgiving Day Parade” by leaving the hospital after being admitted for blood clots.
The “Today” meteorologist shared the good news on his Instagram with a video showing him walking in the hallway of the hospital. He seemed to be in good spirits as he announced it was, “time to blow this taco stand. Woohoo!”
Alongside the video Roker wrote, “So much to be #thankful for on the #thanksgiving day. Leaving the hospital and home for #thanksgivingdinner.”
He later shared with his fans that he had made it home in time to catch some of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and he was “missing being next to” his “Today” show colleagues Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb.
This was the first time in 27 years that Roker had missed the iconic parade.
Kotb showed her friend some love, commenting on his video that the, “Parade was not the same without YOU!!!”
Jenna Bush Hager also showed her support writing, “Yasss!! Now we are especially thankful for you too!!! And all those doctors and nurses who took care of our dear one!”
Al Roker, Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb host the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2021.
(Photo by: Eric Liebowitz/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
It was clear his Thanksgiving Day Parade co-hosts could feel his absence. Guthrie commented on Roker’s photo, “We miss you so much!!!!”
Roker also shared pictures of him with his family saying how thankful he was to be able to be home with them to enjoy the holiday.
AL ROKER UPDATES FANS ON PROSTATE CANCER DIAGNOSIS: ‘SURGERY IS DONE’
The “Today” show weather anchor has been absent from the morning show for three weeks. He took to Instagram on Nov. 18 to share that he had been hospitalized for blood clots.
“So many of you have been thoughtfully asking where I’ve been,” he captioned on a photo of a bouquet of flowers. “Last week I was admitted to the hospital with a blood clot in my leg which sent some clots into my lungs. After some medical whack-a-mole, I am so fortunate to be getting terrific medical care and on the way to recovery.”
Roker concluded, “Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers and hope to see you soon.”
This was not the first health scare for the TV personality. In November 2020, he revealed that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
The Emmy-winner announced his diagnosis while on the “Today” show at the time.
“It’s a good news-bad news kind of thing,” Roker said. “Good news is we caught it early. Not great news is that it’s a little aggressive, so I’m going to be taking some time off to take care of this.”
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Al Roker has been absent from “Today” for three weeks, sharing he was hospitalized with blood clots. He was released from the hospital on Thanksgiving Day.
(Photo by: Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)
A week after sharing the news with his fans, he updated them on his surgery.
“Relieved to let you all know that my #prostatecancer surgery is done and back home,” he wrote. “A big shoutout to everyone at the #josierobertsonsurgerycenter and appreciate all the thoughts and wishes from our viewers and the wonderful care packages from my co-workers.”
Roker said the cancer was discovered during a routine checkup.
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“It’s a little more common than I think people realize, so I just decided that I wanted to go public with it because one in nine men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime,” Roker said. “But for African American men, that number is one in seven and is more deadly, so if you detect it early, this is a really treatable disease and it’s why I wanted to take you along my journey so we can all learn together.”
