Harry Connick Jr. and his wife Jill Goodacre have come forward to talk about her secret five-year battle with breast cancer in the new issue of People magazine.
In the issue of the mag, the former model opened up about the struggle, which started five years ago when she had a routine annual mammogram. "They said, 'Okay, looks good. Since you have dense breasts, just go across the hall for your sonogram," she recalled.
Unfortunately, something was detected during the procedure and she learned shortly afterward that she had Stage 1 invasive ductal carcinoma and would need to immediately undergo a lumpectomy and radiation. Connick Jr. told the magazine that he was scared he was going to lose her, particularly because his mother died of ovarian cancer when he was just 13-years-old. "I wasn't going to let her see that, but I was. I know from losing my mom that the worst can happen. She's my best friend, and I really don’t know what I would do without her," he explained.
"It wasn't like we were superstitious, like if we said something about being in the clear we'd somehow jinx it," Goodacre explained of keeping the secret. "But we wanted to be well on the other side of things before we told everybody. The doctors all say that after the five-year mark, things look optimistic, so we're starting to feel pretty good."
Connick Jr. and Goodacre have been married for almost 24 years and met at a hotel pool in Los Angeles. They have three daughters by the names of Georgia, 21, Sara Kate, 20, and Charlotte, 15. Click here to read more of their lengthy feature with People.
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