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Erin Andrews Reveals She Battled Cancer During Football Season

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- While Erin Andrews was interviewing the biggest names in the NFL this season, she was also secretly fighting cervical cancer.

The Fox Sports reporter and "Dancing with the Stars" co-host revealed to The MMQB's Emily Kaplan in an article published online Tuesday that she was diagnosed with cancer in September. She did not tell colleagues about her condition.

Andrews, 38, underwent surgery in Los Angeles on Oct. 11, telling her oncologist just before: "I'm not watching any football games at home. This is (Fox's) Super Bowl year, and I'm not missing the Super Bowl."

Not only did she not miss any games, she was on a flight to Green Bay two days later to interview Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson and covering Green Bay's game against the Cowboys that Sunday.

"Should I have been standing for a full game five days after surgery? Let's just say the doctor didn't recommend that," Andrews said. "But just as I felt during my trial, sports were my escape. I needed to be with my crew."

The only work time she missed was two days of tapings for "Dancing with the Stars" immediately after learning of her diagnosis. She told ABC she needed to support her now-fiancee, former NHL player Jarret Stoll, whose 17-year-old nephew had been killed in a car accident. That was, in part, true, but she dealing mostly with her diagnosis.

Andrew underwent another procedure on Nov. 1. By Nov. 17, her doctor called to tell her she would not need radiation or chemotherapy -- she was cancer free.

2016 was a particularly turbulent year for Andrews. In February and March, her lawsuit against her stalker, who filmed her naked through a hotel peephole and then posted the video online, and the hotel's owner went to trial. A jury awarded her $55 million.

"After the trial everyone kept telling me, 'You're so strong, for going through all of this, for holding down a job in football, for being the only woman on the crew,'?" Andrews said. "Finally I got to the point where I believed it too. 'Hey, I have cancer, but dammit, I am strong, and I can do this.'"

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