In a personal essay Wednesday, Katie Couric shared that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and urged fans to stay on top of their annual mammograms.

“Please get your annual mammogram. I was six months late this time. I shudder to think what might have happened if I had put it off longer. But just as importantly, please find out if you need additional screening,” the legendary journalist and author wrote.

A simple X-ray procedure that looks for early signs of breast cancer, annual mammograms are recommended for women 40 or older.

Couric, who lost her first husband Jay Monahan to colon cancer in 1998, previously aired her colonoscopy experience for awareness on the Today show in 2000. She intended to do the same thing with this mammogram screening, she says, until a suspicious spot made the doctor ask the filming technician to cut the camera.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

When the results of the biopsy came back a few days later, Couric received the news she had been dreading: it was cancer.

“I felt sick and the room started to spin. I was in the middle of an open office, so I walked to a corner and spoke quietly, my mouth unable to keep up with the questions swirling in my head,” she writes. “What does this mean? Will I need a mastectomy? Will I need chemo? What will the next weeks, months, even years look like?”

Couric Says She’s Grateful for Modern Medicine; Advocates for Access to Screening

     Katie Couric

Following her diagnosis, Couric, 65, underwent a lumpectomy in July to remove the tumor, which she described as “roughly the size of an olive.”

Pathology results showed her cancer was an easily-treatable kind and had been detected in the early stages—and Couric says she’s deeply grateful for the modern medicine behind her quick diagnosis.

And Couric is adamant that regular mammograms should be accessible to all who need them—financially or otherwise.

Although breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in the United States, Couric shares that “only 14 states and the District of Columbia require insurance companies to fully or partially reimburse patients for the cost of potentially lifesaving breast ultrasounds.”

“That means far too many women are not benefiting from a technology that will allow their breast cancer to be diagnosed early, when it’s most treatable,” she added.

Read Couric’s full essay on her website.