Al Roker has faced hurricanes, extreme snowstorms and major meteorological events, only to walk away and deliver the forecast for Today viewers. However, in late 2022, the seemingly indomitable television personality was knocked back when he was hospitalized for blood clots. “It’s been a tough slog, I’m not gonna deny this,” Al said during a December 12, 2022, appearance on Today, his first time on the show following the health scare. “It’s been the hardest one yet, and you know I’ve had my share of surgeries.” Months after making his return following the surgery, Al opened up about how he’s been feeling in an October 2023 interview.
Al wasn’t kidding. His journey has seen him battle a litany of diseases and undergo just as many surgeries. In May 2023, Al gave an update after he underwent knee surgery on May 9, 2023. The beloved weatherman underwent a “total knee replacement” procedure. “It’s stiff,” Al said of his knee. “[The surgery] was a little more complicated. It was called a revision – it was a replacement of a replacement. So they had to go in and take stuff out, put new stuff in.” Al gave love to the medical staff love for helping him recover, and said that the downtime gave him a chance to catch up on shows like Poker Face, The Mandalorian, and more.
Al also said his recovery looks like “three days a week of physical rehab. That’ll go on for a few months. I still don’t know – maybe sometime in the next two weeks, I’ll be back.” Al returned to Today after his knee surgery on May 30, 2023 and confirmed that the procedure went well.
Al is back with us this morning! 😁☀️ pic.twitter.com/D6eyRgCazL
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) May 30, 2023
On top of this, he underwent a gastric bypass in 2012, carpal tunnel surgery in 2018, shoulder surgery and hip replacement surgery in 2019, and another procedure on his shoulder in 2020. In November 2020, he revealed that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. “It’s a good news–bad news kind of thing,” he said on Today. “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.” Al underwent surgery to remove the cancer and said shortly after the procedure that “it went well.” The doctor said there were no more signs of cancer in Al, but they would continue monitoring him.
So, when Al was diagnosed with blood clots in 2022, it caused many to worry. Thankfully, he’s recovered, but what exactly happened to him? Find out below.
