Carson Daly. Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock
Get back in the game! Carson DalyReturned to the TodayAfter a seven week hiatus, he returned to work after recovering from spinal surgery.
“I’m great,” the 49-year-old reporter told his fellow TodayOn Tuesday, October 18, show hosts were joined by the host of the program. He then resumed his duties for months. “I had back surgery. Real, hardcore spinal fusion surgery.”
The Voice host went on to confirm that the procedure, which was done to help fix his chronic back pain caused by a snowmobiling accident in the ‘90s, “worked.”
Daly had his first back surgery in July. He documented the procedure on NBC’s morning talk show. The procedure, however, was “not a cure-all,” according to the former radio personality, who then underwent his anterior lumbar interbody fusion surgery — which means one of his intervertebral discs was removed and replace by either a bone or metal spacer — in August.
“It feels great,” he said on Tuesday, pointing out, “There’s a long road ahead.”
The former TRL host joked that he feels like he’s “18 again” after successfully healing. “It’s been quite the recovery,” he told Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Al RokerAnd Sheinelle Jones. “I had some time to sit around and [rest], but it feels great.”
The California native made light of his time off, saying that due to all of his walking he has become “the Forest Gump of Long Island,” reiterating, “I walk everywhere.”
While Daly is on the mend, he noted there is a lot more to his surgery and recovery process that people wouldn’t know at first glance.
“I hope I get a chance to do a story on it because what I realize now is it’s like the iceberg effect,” he explained. “This just isn’t a story about people who have back pain and how do you fix it; there’s a subtext underneath it all that’s very complex that so many of us have to deal with.”
The journalist continued: “When you’re in pain and you’re looking to just feel good, that changes your relationship with food and drink and your life. The pain is not the only thing that will be fixed. There are other areas of your life you need to address and realign with. So when I say I’m getting better, I’m getting better in a multitude of ways which is great; which is really great.”
Daly checked in previously with his TodayOne month after his surgery, he showed his family. “I feel really good,” he revealed in September. “I feel really optimistic. I feel like, for anybody who suffered from lower back pain for decades, you don’t realize how much pain you’re in until it’s gone. I am optimistic about the future. My future is bright now!”
