A lot of times, events blindside us out of nowhere, hitting with something we never expected and challenging us in ways we never imagined.

That’s as true offscreen as it is on a soap opera like Days of Our Lives. And it’s something Suzanne Rogers (Maggie) experienced this past summer, she tells TV Insider, when she was diagnosed with cancer.

 

 

It began when Rogers felt something was off and, after some tests, her doctor came back with a diagnosis: Stage II colorectal cancer. “It was all a shock,” she tells TV Insider. “I mean, I think I was in a shock for several days because I take pretty good care of myself. But he said, ‘It’s a good thing you caught it in time.’”

 

 

She started treatment in June, undergoing radiation and chemo five days a week for six weeks. That overlapped a good deal with Days of Our Lives‘ own six-week summer break, so she could mostly keep it under wraps. She leaned on her friend, Sunie Ostermann and Linsey Godfrey (Sarah), especially as Rogers’ onscreen daughter was also a cancer survivor — and an incredible pillar of support as Rogers went through the ordeal.

 

 

Godfrey would sit and hold her TV mother’s hand while she sat through the infusions, and dinners with Sarah’s portrayer, her daughter Aleda and Paul Telfer (Xander) were a source of comfort. Because unlike the drama and the anger that’s playing out onscreen right now, the actors themselves couldn’t be closer. “I knew I could count on them,” Rogers shares, “so it was a lovely experience on and off the set. We really feel like a family.”

But treatment takes a lot out of you, and while Rogers wrapped it at the end of July, she’s only now returning to work next week. Since the show shoots 10 months in advance, we won’t see Maggie’s absence until around the end of next summer. Because as executive producer Ken Corday made clear to her, Maggie wasn’t going anywhere and she could pick right back up when she was ready. In the end, “The prayers and the good wishes from my friends and my family helped me stay positive and stay on top of it and beat this.”

Now that Rogers is through the ordeal and has come out the other side, she wanted the fans to know what had happened and give a heads up about Maggie’s eventual disappearance. “There’s been some things on Facebook that said that I had retired and I had left the show,” she notes to TV Insider, “and none of that is true. I don’t want to upset anybody, but I want them to know what’s going on.”

Maggie may be taking a break in the future because of battle, but neither she, nor Rogers are going anywhere. Her treatment is done and every day the Days of Our Lives mainstay feels better and stronger. And we couldn’t be more thankful!

A lot of times, events blindside us out of nowhere, hitting with something we never expected and challenging us in ways we never imagined. That’s as true offscreen as it is on a soap opera like Days of Our Lives. And it’s something Suzanne Rogers (Maggie) experienced this past summer, she tells TV Insider, when she was diagnosed with cancer.

It began when Rogers felt something was off and, after some tests, her doctor came back with a diagnosis: Stage II colorectal cancer. “It was all a shock,” she tells TV Insider. “I mean, I think I was in a shock for several days because I take pretty good care of myself. But he said, ‘It’s a good thing you caught it in time.’”

She started treatment in June, undergoing radiation and chemo five days a week for six weeks. That overlapped a good deal with Days of Our Lives‘ own six-week summer break, so she could mostly keep it under wraps. She leaned on her friend, Sunie Ostermann and Linsey Godfrey (Sarah), especially as Rogers’ onscreen daughter was also a cancer survivor — and an incredible pillar of support as Rogers went through the ordeal.

Godfrey would sit and hold her TV mother’s hand while she sat through the infusions, and dinners with Sarah’s portrayer, her daughter Aleda and Paul Telfer (Xander) were a source of comfort. Because unlike the drama and the anger that’s playing out onscreen right now, the actors themselves couldn’t be closer. “I knew I could count on them,” Rogers shares, “so it was a lovely experience on and off the set. We really feel like a family.”

But treatment takes a lot out of you, and while Rogers wrapped it at the end of July, she’s only now returning to work next week. Since the show shoots 10 months in advance, we won’t see Maggie’s absence until around the end of next summer. Because as executive producer Ken Corday made clear to her, Maggie wasn’t going anywhere and she could pick right back up when she was ready. In the end, “The prayers and the good wishes from my friends and my family helped me stay positive and stay on top of it and beat this.”

Now that Rogers is through the ordeal and has come out the other side, she wanted the fans to know what had happened and give a heads up about Maggie’s eventual disappearance. “There’s been some things on Facebook that said that I had retired and I had left the show,” she notes to TV Insider, “and none of that is true. I don’t want to upset anybody, but I want them to know what’s going on.”

Maggie may be taking a break in the future because of battle, but neither she, nor Rogers are going anywhere. Her treatment is done and every day the Days of Our Lives mainstay feels better and stronger. And we couldn’t be more thankful!