It's 'a little bit harder' for the 'Today' weatherman to 'snap back' after he went under the knife for a second knee-replacement operation, his wife reveals on social media.
- May 23, 2023
AceShowbiz - Al Roker is struggling with a "slow going" recovery from knee surgery. The 68-year-old "Today" weatherman's wife Deborah Roberts, 62, who is ABC News' senior national affairs correspondent, offered an update on his latest health battle after he went in for the operation on May 9.
"Thank you all so much for being so concerned about him and so interested in his well-being. As many of you know he had a knee re-replacement, so a knee that had been replaced many, many years ago had problems and had to be re-replaced," she told fans on Instagram Live.
"It makes it slow going - it makes it a little tougher. It was a harder surgery, so it's a little bit harder to snap back from but he's doing pretty well, moving a little slowly."
Deborah also revealed her husband of 27 years was sitting opposite her as she spoke, but was "not interested" in "getting involved today." She added, "He wants to just say thank you to everybody who has asked about him. Thank you all so much - you have all been so kind and so generous and just so caring and compassionate about my family over these last several months as we've gone through a few things."
Deborah also said about how her husband is keen to get back to work, "Al is chomping at the bit to try to get back to work, but the doctor just wants him to take it slowly so that he can continue to heal well. So on Al's behalf and our family's behalf thank you so much and I'm sure he'll be popping up soon."
Scolding Al for not resting enough, she went on, "Some of you may have seen him cooking. I did not like that he's been trying to do that because he needed to give himself some time and some rest and elevate his leg and ice it and all of that, so he's doing all that. He's trying to obey the doctor's orders so that he can get back to work and to play as soon as possible, so just wanted to give you a little update on him."
Al is set to become a grandad and spoke in May about how his daughter Courtney, 36, is pregnant with a baby girl. He adopted her in 1987 with his then-wife, Alice Bell, and moved on after their divorce in 1994 by marrying Deborah, with whom he has daughter Leila, 24, and 20-year-old son Nicholas.
Al's health woes have included him having an emergency carpal tunnel surgical procedure in 2018 and a hip replacement the following year. In November 2020, he shared a prostate cancer diagnosis with viewers, warning the disease - which he beat after surgery - was "a little aggressive" despite him catching it early.
