Robin Roberts has returned to the airwaves. The "Good Morning America" anchored was welcomed back on Wednesday, by no less than the POTUS and FLOTUS, Barack and Michelle Obama.
Roberts has been absent for nearly six months, or as she said "174 days" -- which she enumerated when saying she had waited that long to return to the show's set.
Roberts, 52, said in the show's open:
I have been waiting 174 days to say this: "Good Morning America!" [...]
I keep pinching myself and I realize that this is real. This is really happening. Faith, family and friends have brought me to this moment and I am so full of gratitude.
Roberts had undergone a bone marrow transplant to treat myelodysplastic syndrome or MDS, which is a rare form of leukemia. Speaking of the diagnosis on-air in June of 2012, Roberts said she was informed of her MDS on the same day in April that her show beat NBC's "Today Show" in the ratings for the first time in nearly 16 years. It was a day, she said, of "highs and lows."
MDS can be brought on by chemotherapy and radiation, which, as Roberts noted, are treatments whe underwent after her 2007 breast cancer diagnosis. She was fortunate to have an available bone marrow donor: her sister, Sally-Ann Roberts.
Speaking in front of a studio full of supporters, including her co-anchors George Stephanopoulos, Josh Elliott, Lara Spencer and Sam Champion, as well as the family, friends and fans who supported her and the medical staff who guided her recovery, Roberts said:
I keep pinching myself and I realize that this is real. This is really happening. Faith, family and friends have brought me to this moment and I am so full of gratitude.
There’s so many people that I want to thank throughout the morning, my doctors and nurses and family and colleagues and people who have sat in this chair and those who have blazed the trail before me.
As my mother said, "We all have something." Everyone’s story has purpose and meaning and value and I share this morning, this day of celebration, with everyone.
Watch "20/20" Friday at 10 p.m. ET for a behind-the-scenes look at Roberts' journey.
On hand at the show's Times Square studio for Roberts' return to "GMA" were her co-anchors George Stephanopoulos, Josh Elliott, Lara Spencer and Sam Champion, and a studio full of the family, friends and fans who supported her, as well as the doctors and nurses who guided her recovery.
The President and his wife opened up the special welcome back episode. The Presidential said:
The President: Good Morning America. And welcome back, Robin.
Michelle Obama: Robin, we just want you to know that the whole Obama family, we've been thinking about you and praying for you and rooting for you every step of the way.
The President: You've been an inspiration to all of us, and we couldn't be happier that you're back here, doing what you do best.
Michelle: And personally, I am looking forward to our interview together, in a couple of days.
The President: So Robin, it's great to see you back in that chair, and we're all excited to start our morning with you once again.
Roberts also received special messages from Hillary Clinton, and Oprah.
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