“Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek’s wife was the first person to detect this one symptom in her husband, which later led to his diagnosis of stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
In a blog post, Jean, 56, described the moment she noticed something “off” about Trebek, 80, on a vacation in Israel.
“We went to Israel in December 2018 to visit the sites of the Holy Land, and our son and daughter, Matthew and Emily, then 27 and 24, took over,” she began in a personal essay on Guideposts.
“JEOPARDY!” HOST ALEX TREBEK CLARIFIES HIS COMMENTS ON POTENTIALLY STOPPING CANCER TREATMENT
Alex Trebek and Jean Currivan Trebek attend the 47th AFI Life Achievement Award in honor of Denzel Washington
(Michael Kovac / Getty Images for AFI)
Jean reminds him, ‘We were ready to eat one night, and I looked across the table at Alex. Its color shone off. “You feel okay?” I asked. “
” I’m fine, ” she recalls the ‘Jeopardy!’ host tell her. ‘Alex is not one to complain. But he admitted he had some stomach pain. I think, ok, we were in another country. Maybe it was something he ate. “
However, when the couple returned to California, she thought, “Things were not going well yet.”
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Alex Trebek revealed that his wife, Jean Currivan, has been the best support he has had in his entire cancer battle.
(Michael Kovac / Getty Images for AFI)
‘His doctor performed some tests, and later some more. We were not so afraid that we would cancel a trip to New York, ”Jean admitted.
The couple then received a relevant call from Trebek’s doctor, prompting them to end their journey early.
‘It was there, in our hotel, that we got a call from his doctor. ‘We need to see you as soon as you return from your trip. We’re worried, ” the mother of two returned.
Jean went on to say: “He went for a CT scan – all this at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, not far from our house. The doctor called back within hours. “We need to talk,” he said. We went back and got the news. Pancreatic cancer with a tumor that had spread to the soft lining of his stomach. Phase IV. ”
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TV personality Alex Trebek and his wife Jean receive the 2014 AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Jane Fonda
(Getty)
The project manager of real estate revealed that she was initially destroyed by the diagnosis.
“I was wondering then how long we had,” confessed Jean. “More than a year and a half later we are still there, a gift every day.”
Trebek’s wife also admitted to having days where she is ‘really sad and angry’, but she always tries to look on the bright side with her beliefs.
‘With each passing day, I have found so much to be grateful for. The work of Alex. Our children, our friends, a sunset, a flower blooming in our garden, ”wrote Jean.
She added: “This does not have to be a death sentence. It could be a life sentence. A constant reminder of how precious life is. The little things I once took for granted now took on more meaning. I think this is how “God is keeping us in the moment. He is directing us with grace.”
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Alex Trebek poses with the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host
(Gregg DeGuire / Getty Images)
Trebek was diagnosed with cancer in March 2019. Despite the devastating news, the couple’s love for each other remained.
The host of the longtime game show opened up about his marriage in a memoir titled “The Answer Is … Reflections On My Life”, which is now out. In the book, the 80-year-old described how the 56-year-old had been rocking in his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.
‘She kept me alive,’ the host told People magazine last month. “If it were not for Jean, I would have been out for a long time.”
In his memoir, People said, he wrote: ‘I have [a] framed image. Jeanie gave it to me. It’s a line from our favorite movie, ‘Wuthering Heights.’ “Whatever our souls are made of, you and mine are the same.” That’s the way I see our relationship. We are one soul in two bodies. ”
Alex Trebek attended ‘Who is Alex Trebek? Celebrate 35 seasons of Jeopardy! ‘
(Santiago Felipe / Getty Images)
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Trebek first met Jean through a mutual friend in 1988 when he was 47 years old. Trebek hosted “Jeopardy!” for only four years. According to the outlet, he was newly single after his divorce from his first wife, entrepreneurial wife Elaine Callei. As for Jean, who was 23 at the time, she did part-time bookkeeping for one of Trebek’s friends.
The couple married in 1990.
FOX News Stephanie Nolasco contributed to this report.
