But as the 39-year-old says, cancer doesnt care.

After a routine gyno appointment last July, her doctor told her she needed additional testing.

She had cervical cancer and needed surgery, stat.

Erin Andrews hosting Dancing With the Stars

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She had her first operation on Tuesday, Oct. 11.

Two days later came another devastating call: Not all the cancer had been removed.

A few discussions and opinions latermore on that in a minuteshe had a second procedure in November.

All the while, she worked, keeping her illness a secret from her co-workers and her fans.

Andrewswent public with her conditionearlier this year.

Im going to beat this.

It was such a great release, she says.

But it was great for me to be like, I can do this.

She might miss one here or there, but the goal of consistency keeps her on track.

Andrews realizes her decision to keep working throughout treatment might seem strange to some.

Meanwhile, youre cramping all over the place and having a tough time walking around.

Some of that determination came from not wanting to look weaker than her male colleagues, she says.

The last thing she wanted was to bring more drama to the office.

In hotel rooms, shed perch in the window, soaking up sunlight.

She wore beads made of amethyst on her wrists, and practiced deep breathing whenever she could.

The two werent even engaged when she got diagnosed, and the experience brought them closer, she says.

Then we walked upstairs and I had the surgery.

After surgery, she and Stoll went back down to see her friend again.

I was saying to Jarret, Babe, youre the only one not wearing a diaper.

When her girlfriends came over to visit afterward, theyd chuckle over the various indignities of recovery.

You have to have those moments.

Humor also got her through the tension of her most recent follow-up appointment.

Her next follow-up is in six months.

This time, shell bring someone with her.

Its too hard to do it by yourself, she says.

After her first surgery failed to remove all the cancer, her doctor told her shed need a hysterectomy.

In her quest, she asked other medical professionals for recommendations.

Before she scheduled the surgery, she checked in one more time with the physician whod referred her.

I said, why would you choose him?

He said: Because if my wife was sick, Id tell her to go to him.

Thats all I needed to hear.

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