Jason Merritt/Getty ImagesRobin Roberts has openly discussed her battle with cancer and bone marrow disease, but never has she spoken out quite like this before.
The Good Morning America host opened up for Humans of New York to reveal the overwhelming feeling of isolation she experienced while going through chemotherapy—a feeling that almost led to her death.
"Before my bone marrow transplant, I had to have my immune system completely wiped out with chemotherapy," she writes. "I went into the hospital thinking that I was going to do a lot of reading and watch old movies and catch up on work. One thing that I didn't fully anticipate was the isolation that I'd feel."
She continues, "I knew I'd be physically isolated. The doctors and nurses wore masks so all I could see were their eyes. And nobody touched me unless they were administering medicine. But the pain and weakness brought me to a place where I felt completely alone."
Eventually she says the pain got so bad and she got so weak that she could barely even formulate a thought.
"At one point I actually gave up. I made everyone leave my room, even my partner, and I started slipping away," she recalls the dark moment. "I hallucinated my mother's voice calling my name. I heard it very distinctly. But when I opened my eyes—it was my nurse Jenny that was calling me. At the point of my greatest isolation, it was almost as if my mother used Jenny's voice to call me back."
After beating breast cancer in 2012, Roberts was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome—an issue likely caused by the radiation and chemotherapy she underwent to beat the cancer.
However, despite all the obstacles she's faced, she's maintained a positive outlook.
"When you're going through a mess, find the message in it not just for yourself, but for other people," Roberts told WebMD Magazine May.
Since her recovery she's returned to work, become active with Be the Match—which helps raise awareness and funds for patients in need of bone marrow transplants—and even came out about being gay with her partner, Amber Laign.
"At this moment I am at peace and filled with joy and gratitude. I am grateful to God, my doctors and nurses for my restored good health," she wrote in a Facebook post in Dec. 2013. "I am grateful for my sister, Sally-Ann, for being my donor and giving me the gift of life. I am grateful for my entire family, my longtime girlfriend, Amber, and friends as we prepare to celebrate a glorious new year together."