WPVI Reporter Taking Leave of Absence for Cancer Fight

By Kevin Eck 

WPVI investigative reporter Wendy Saltzman says she’ll be off the air for several weeks after undergoing a double mastectomy in early March.

Saltzman shared the story behind her diagnosis on her Facebook page, saying she found out she had breast cancer on December 22, 2016.

“I didn’t even believe it…when I heard the news,” Saltzman told PhillyVoice. “I went through a phase of being mad at the world.”

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“I credit early detection for my favorable prognosis, and I’m thankful my chances of survival are great,” Saltzman said on Facebook. “I am sharing my story in hopes other women will make their health a priority. Initially I ignored a doctor’s recommendation to get a follow-up mammogram back in May of 2015. Almost 17 months later at the end of last year, I had an excisional biopsy, a surgery which diagnosed a lump in the back of my breast as cancer. I thought I was too healthy to have cancer. I’m sure most people in my shoes think the same thing.”

Saltzman also said “some days I feel strong, other days I cry” but that she looks forward to the day she can “put the ‘C’ word” behind her.

“I’m going to do what some people would say is an extreme surgery,” said Saltzman, who has worked at the Philadelphia ABC-owned station since 2012. “But I think it’s my best chance for making sure that I am a survivor.”

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