Suzanne Rogers, best known for playing Maggie Horton on the soap opera Days of Our Lives, revealed that she was diagnosed with cancer.
The actress, 82, opened up about her stage II colorectal cancer diagnosis in an interview with TV Insider published Thursday, October 30, saying that she was “in shock” when she received the news.
Earlier this year, Rogers knew that something “wasn’t quite right,” she told the outlet, so she went to the doctor and was sent for a colonoscopy.
After the results came back, her doctor suggested a slew of other tests, and it was eventually confirmed that she had cancer.
“It was all a shock,” Rogers said. “I mean, I think I was in a shock for several days because I take pretty good care of myself. But he said, ‘It’s a good thing you caught it in time.’”
After wrapping production on Days of Our Lives on June 13, Rogers began treatment three days later. “It was radiation every day and chemo every day for six weeks and it was tough,” she explained. “It was tough knowing you had to do it five days a week and then you had off Saturday and Sunday. I thoroughly enjoyed my weekends because I didn’t have to go to and see a doctor. I was so tired of seeing doctors.”
Rogers kept the news from most of her cast, except for her onscreen daughter Linsey Godfrey — who plays Sarah Horton on the soap and is a cancer survivor herself. Godfrey, 37, joined her at medical appointments since Rogers didn’t have family in the L.A. area.
Now that Rogers finished treatment on July 31, she will be getting back to set. “I’m feeling really good,” she told TV Insider. “I start back to work next week, so we’ll see how that goes.”
While she didn’t lose her hair from the chemo treatments, Rogers explained that it was quite the journey, and she’s happy that things are getting back to normal.
“I’m sure there’ll be people that are saying, ‘Well, she didn’t really have cancer [because she has her hair],’ but you know what? I really don’t care what people say,” she said. “I know what I’ve gone through and I’ve come out on the other side, so that’s all I care about.”
