Monica Pearson, former Channel 2 Action News anchor who retired in 2012 after 37 years, is recovering from liver cancer.
She was diagnosed in December and had surgery Jan. 29 to remove more than 50 percent of her liver. She chose not to publicize this until now because she didn’t want people to pity her. She wants to encourage people to go to the doctor.
“People can be very negative about cancer,” Pearson said in an interview Wednesday evening. “People assume you are going to die soon. As my mother says, none of us came to stay but we don’t need to be around people who have that attitude. I have a strong faith. I’m not going to ball up over this.”
This is not her first battle with cancer. In 1998, Pearson overcame breast cancer discovered during a routine mammogram.
She said the liver does regenerate, but after three months of recuperation, she still gets tired easily.
After the surgery, she took several weeks off from her weekly Kiss 104.1 radio program she began last year. She returned on air Easter Sunday. Her first public emcee gig she did after surgery was the White Coat Grady Gala last month.
“I don’t want anyone sending me cards,” Pearson said. “I don’t want flowers. You can pray for me. Prayer is always welcome. But the best thing people can do is go to the doctor and get checked.”
Pearson, now 67, said she’s been healthy. Two gateways to liver cancer — excessive drinking and hepatitis C — were not factors. “There were no warning signs,” she said.
She praised her primary doctor, Rio Dickens, for catching the cancer after seeing abnormal results during a routine blood test during her regular physical in early December. And she also lauded her surgeon, Emory’s Dr. David Kooby, for his thoroughness and expertise.
Channel 2 Action News, Kiss 104.1 and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution are all part of Cox Media Group.
