Alex Trebek's Wife Opens Up About Finding Peace Amid the 'Jeopardy!' Host's Cancer Diagnosis
Jean and Alex Trebek have been married for 29 years.
Jean and Alex Trebek have been married for 29 years.
Jean and Alex Trebek have been married for 29 years.
Last March, Alex Trebek shared with "Jeopardy!" viewers that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. As hard as it was for "Jeopardy!" fans to hear the news, it was undoubtedly tougher on his wife of 29 years, Jean, and the couple's children, Emily and Matthew.
During an ABC News interview for the one-hour special "What Is Jeopardy? Alex Trebek and America's Most Popular Quiz Show," Jean and Alex sat down to discuss coping with the disease and the hardest part of it all.
“It’s when I see him in pain and I can’t help him,” Jean Trebek began, "And when he doesn’t eat right. When he has too much diet soda.”
Elaborating on Jean Trebek's response, Alex Trebek continued: "It’s always tough for caretakers, because she has to deal with her worrying about my well-being and also dealing with … I’m not always the most pleasant person to be around when I’m experiencing severe pain or depression, and she has to tread lightly around me.”
Back in August, Jean Trebek wrote in an Inside Wink blog post entitled "Inner Peace" about trying to stay positive. Even though Jean Trebek, the founder of Inside Wink, an online magazine, did not explicitly mention her husband in the article, she explained how she's come to find her own inner peace over the years.
"I, too, strongly believe that the bridge to a peaceful co-existence lies in our ability to respectfully communicate our feelings," she wrote. "What’s helped me the most in becoming truly peaceful within, is allowing myself to have my feelings without judgment."
Being aware of her emotions, she goes on to write, has helped her live in the moment and maintain a sense of calmness.
"When something happens, I can now experience it and realize that it is bringing up an old habitual thought or feeling that upsets me. I pause and, in that moment, take the first steps to healing and releasing that old thought. I really question the thought that I am believing. When I take the time to do this it brings me back to a state of peace.”
In an interview with last May, Alex Trebek opened up about his wife's endless support throughout his battle.
“Jeannie is wonderful,” he explained. “She cried of course this morning when she got the [good] news [about my tumors shrinking]. But it’s been a lot. It’s a lot of pressure.”
Back then, he shared that some of his tumors had shrunk by 50%. While at one point he was "near remission," reports that in October, doctors told him he'd have to have chemotherapy again since the cancer had returned.
Through it all, his wife has not left his side.
He added: "My heart goes out to caregivers, because they have to deal with their loved ones suffering and they also don’t always know how to help because there’s not much they can do, except try to make you feel more comfortable, at ease and not worry about ordinary stuff.”
Alex and Jean Trebek have been married since 1990. The "Jeopardy!" host met Jean Trebek at a party in the late 1980s, and the rest is history.
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