Robin Roberts Returns to Set of GOOD MORNING AMERICA for 'Test Run'

ABC News reports that Robin Roberts made a much anticipated return to the Times Square Studio of GOOD MORNING AMERICA for a behind-the-scenes test run this morning. Roberts arrived at the studio at 5 a.m. after waking at 3:45 a.m.

The appearance marked the first time back on set since undergoing a bone marrow transplant last September. "What a thrill to be back at 'GMA's Times Square Studio this morning and see the best folks in the world, my 'GMA' family," Roberts said. "I can't wait to get back to the anchor chair in a few weeks."

During a live interview from her New York City home last week, Roberts explained that she would be doing a series of "dry runs" that her doctors had approved as the next step in her recovery and on her road to returning to "GMA."

"My doctors want me to see how many people I actually come in contact with. How my body reacts to the stimulation, that's code word for stress, of being in the studio environment," she explained.
"My skin is very sensitive and so we have to see how it reacts to the studio lights. My vision is still a little blurry from the treatment," she said, explaining why tests needed to be done off-air. "All of this is getting better day by day so that is the next step."

The medical team who are following Robert's case had approved her return to "GMA" after her most recent test showed no abnormalities. "What we know now is that can't see any of the disease that prompted this whole process right now," her oncologist, Dr. Gail Roboz, of the New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center said on "GMA" last week. "That's really, that's what we were looking for."

Back in December, Roberts, a recent breast cancer survivor, celebrated the crucial 100-day benchmark from her bone marrow transplant to treat myelodysplastic syndrome or MDS, a rare blood disorder that affects the bone marrow.

Since the September transplant her doctors have been tracking her recovery and monitoring her weakened immune system to ensure that her system is successfully acclimating to the new bone marrow. Her doctors have called her recovery strong. "She is doing wonderfully," Roboz said. "There are many patients who at this point after a transplant are not at all having a conversation about going back to work, let alone the type of work that she does, so we are thrilled that she's doing so well."

Photo credit: Ida Mae Astute/ABC