Kristen Dahlgren
Kristen Dahlgren
Kristen Dahlgren (born July 27, 1972) is an American journalist lives in New York, New York. She is a correspondent at NBC Nightly News. [1] [3]
Career
TV Programs
In her career as a reporter, Kristen has appeared on the following television programs: [19]
| Title | Year(s) |
|---|---|
| NBC Nightly News withLester Holt | 2012 - 2019 |
| Sunday Today withWillie Geist | 2019 |
| Today | 2011 - 2019 |
| Weekend Today | 2012 - 2019 |
| MSNBC Live | 2016 - 2018 |
| Megyn Kelly Today | 2018 |
| NBC News Decision 2012 | 2012 |
| Worldwide Exchange (TV Series) | 2010 |
Personal Life
Breast Cancer Diagnosis
Dahlgren was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in 2019. On her 47th birthday, Kristen was alerted by a small dent that appeared on her right breast.
On a television interview aired on December 11, 2019, Dahlgren shared her personal struggle with breast cancer with Dr. Natalie Azar on the Today Show in a segment titled "Kristen Dahlgren shares her battle with breast cancer". [21]
She was surprised at how quickly the problem manifested, stating, [20]
"Breast cancer was the last thing on my mind.
I’m in my forties, I’m active, we don’t really have a family history, and most importantly, I just had a screening mammogram that was negative back in April."
"If I hadn't done that story, I might have ignored the change in my breast.
I might have assumed a mammogram would have picked up cancer."
Dahlgren has also stated that mammograms "are only 87% effective and are less sensitive in women like me with dense breast tissue" when it comes to diagnosing the disease.
In April 2020, Dahlgren announced on Twitter that she was cancer-free after completing her final round of radiation treatment:
"After 8 rounds of chemo and 25 rounds of radiation I AM DONE WITH CANCER TREATMENT!!
No hugs or high 5's... not even a bell to ring because of #COVID But tears of gratitude for the #HealthcareHeroes who helped me and all of the support I received.
#THANKYOU #cancerfree."[31]
Freezing eggs
In February 2018, Dalhgren wrote a piece for Today, titled " Why freezing my eggs was only one piece of my fertility puzzle".
In the article, she tells readers about the challenges she had freezing eggs and having children. [17]
In the piece she explained why she wanted to freeze her eggs.
"I was 39 and had just gotten my dream job.
I was a correspondent with NBC News, and I was busy.
I knew I always wanted a family, so when friends gave me that sober warning, “You had better freeze your eggs NOW,” I listened.
" [17]
She also explained that none of the 17 eggs she froze were usable when it came time for to have children.[17]
Doctors told me my pregnancies were chromosomally normal.
We searched for other explanations, but I knew I couldn’t take another loss.
So in 2015, three and a half years after I froze them, I turned to my "insurance policy," those 17 eggs.
Surely that would give us the edge we needed!
I had them flown from the clinic where I froze them in L.A. to New York.
We prepped for the transfer, and then we got the news.
Only two had survived the thaw, and while the doctor tried to fertilize and transfer those, one negative pregnancy test and thousands of dollars later, she admitted those two eggs were almost certainly damaged as well.
The New York clinic blamed the L.A. lab.
The doctor in L.A. cited their over-90% thaw rate.
In the end, Dahlgren was able to have children with her current eggs at the age of 43.
My story does have a happy ending.
Eggs are only one piece of the puzzle, and they were not my biggest issue.
Along the way, I was diagnosed with immune issues, Lyme disease and blood clotting disorders among other things wreaking havoc with my pregnancies.
With the help of incredible doctors, I was able find the right treatments, and at 43, and with my own "old" egg, I gave birth to my miracle, my daughter, Cielle.