Katie Couric says she’s been treated for breast cancer

NEW YORK (AP) — Katie Couric said Wednesday that she’d been diagnosed with breast cancer, and underwent surgery and radiation treatment this summer to treat the tumor.

Couric, who memorably was tested for colon cancer on the “Today” show in 2000, announced her diagnosis in an essay on her website, saying she hoped it would encourage other women to be tested.

Couric, 65, was diagnosed on the first day of summer and wrote that she had her final radiation treatment on Tuesday.

“My left breast does feel like I’ve been sunbathing topless, but other than that, I’ve felt fine,” she wrote.

Couric’s first husband, Jay Monahan, died of colon cancer in 1998 at age 41 and her sister Emily was 54 when she died of pancreatic cancer in 2001. Given her family history, Couric wrote, “why would I be spared? My reaction went from ‘why me?’ to ‘why not me?'”

The former host of “Today” and the “CBS Evening News” said she recorded her mammogram and breast biopsy with the intention of sharing it with followers, but her doctor asked her to turn off the cameras when she told her that a biopsy was necessary.

A day later, Couric was called and told she had breast cancer and needed to make a plan.

“I felt sick and the room started to spin,” she said.

She underwent a lumpectomy on July 14 and began radiation treatment on Sept. 7.

Judge: R. Kelly to pay $300,000 to victim in sex crimes case

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge signaled Wednesday that she plans to order disgraced R&B superstar R. Kelly to pay more than $300,000 to one his victims in a decades-long scheme to use his fame to sexually abuse young fans.

A restitution order by U.S. District Judge Ann Connelly that was still being finalized is meant to cover the cost of treatment for herpes and psychotherapy. The victim, referred to only by a pseudonym, has accused the jailed Kelly of giving her the sexually transmitted disease during one of their encounters.

Kelly could be on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars more to pay for herpes treatment and counseling for a second victim once the final tally is calculated. The judge rejected a third claim by another accuser.