Katie Couric reveals she was diagnosed with breast cancer

Katie Couric is urging women not to fall behind on their annual mammograms after revealing she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

In an essay on her website Wednesday, the journalist, 65, shared that she received her breast cancer diagnosis in June after she had accidentally been late on receiving a mammogram. "I felt sick and the room started to spin," she writes, describing her reaction to hearing the diagnosis. "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."

Couric's husband, Jay, died from colon cancer at age 42, while her sister died from pancreatic cancer at age 54. In her essay, she describes calling her children to share the news. "They'd already lost one parent," she writes. "The idea of losing another was unfathomable."

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But Couric says her doctor assured her tumor was "highly treatable, particularly if it was detected early," and she subsequently received a lumpectomy to remove it. She also began radiation treatment, the final round of which occurred this week, and says doctors concluded the likelihood of the cancer returning was "considered low enough" to forgo chemotherapy.

"My left breast does look like I've been sunbathing topless, but other than that, I've felt fine," she says, calling this a "teachable moment" and encouraging other women to "please get your annual mammogram," noting "I was six months late this time. I shudder to think what might have happened if I had put it off longer."