Harry Connick Jr. and his wife Jill Goodacre spoke out for the first time about her battle with breast cancer in an article published Wednesday in People magazine.
“They said, ‘OK, looks good. Since you have dense breasts, just go across the hall for your sonogram,” the 53-year-old wife of the big band singer shared about that day in October 2012 when she went in for a routine mammogram.
Goodcare said it was during the sonogram that something was discovered. (RELATED: Harry Connick Jr.’s 19-Year-Old Daughter Arrested)
arrives at the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards held at Staples Center on January 31, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (photo: Getty Images)
After undergoing a biopsy, his wife was diagnosed with Stage 1 invasive ductal carcinoma and would have to have a lumpectomy and undergo radiation. After a second surgery, she had to take medication to deal with the cancer.
Connick Jr., speaking out for the first time about the cancer diagnosis, shared that he thought he was going to lose his best friend. He lost his mom to ovarian cancer when he was just 13 years old.
“I was scared I was going to lose her, absolutely. I know from losing my mom that the worst can happen,” the singer explained. “She’s my best friend, and I really don’t know what I would do without her.”
When asked why the couple remained quiet about what they were going through, the talk show host’s wife said they didn’t want to talk about it until they were well past the worst of it. Now going on five years in remission, they were finally comfortable opening up.
“We wanted to be well on the other side of things before we told everybody,” Goodacre shared. “The doctors all say that after the five-year mark, things look optimistic, so we’re starting to feel pretty good.”
“It’s not something that’s just going to go away like it never happened,” she added. “I’ll always be a little nervous, always having to get checked, always hoping it doesn’t come back.
The couple have three daughters, ages 21, 20 and 15 years old.
