Robin Roberts, looking as beautiful as can be with her lovely bald head, appeared on GMA via satellite to announce that, starting next week, she will be returning to the anchor desk for a trial run before coming back permanently at some point later in the winter. Roberts was forced to step away from Good Morning America this past August to seek treatment for myelodysplastic syndromes (M.D.S), a rare and serious blood disorder that affects the body’s bone marrow. She has since undergone a bone marrow transplant and, thankfully, her most recent bone marrow test by doctors show no blood abnormalities.
“I can begin the process of returning to the anchor chair,” Roberts told her GMA cohosts this morning. “I’m coming home.”
Unfortunately for the ever-eager Roberts, her return will be a little bit of a lengthy process:
“It’s like an athlete coming off of injured reserve — they don’t go right back into the starting line-up. They go to practice, they throw the ball, they see how their body reacts. And my fabulous doctors have come up with a game plan for me so the process of re-entry is — I got up at 4 o’clock this morning. I have to get back on GMA time. Get my body clock used to the early hours…Next week, my doctors have me doing what we’re calling a dry run. I’ll get up, I’ll go to the studio, have make up and hair — well, make up; we’ll talk about the hair later — get dressed, get prepared for the show. I will not go on the air next week. My doctors want to see how many people I actually come in contact with, how my body reacts to the stimulation…My skin is very sensitive, so we have to see how it reacts to the studio lights.”
While she may not be back on the air next week, it’s only a matter of time. When asked for a more specific time frame, Roberts responded, “We’re talking now weeks, not months. I should be back sometime in February.”
Fellow ABC resident Ellen was one of the first to wheel out the welcome (back) wagon, tweeting “Nothing made me happier than to see @robinroberts’ face on @gma this morning. Welcome back.”
