'I feel the love': Brave Robin Roberts looks frail in hospital video message before today's bone marrow transplant

Staying strong: GMA anchor Robin Roberts looked frail as she addressed fans in a video update from her hospital bed. Today she will undergo her bone marrow transplant

A brave and frail-looking Robin Roberts has released a video from her hospital bed as she prepares to undergo a bone marrow transplant today.


The Good Morning America anchor, 51, who was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, earlier this year - a disease which attacks blood cells and bone - has spent the past 11 days in a New York hospital preparing for the procedure, undergoing eight days of intensive chemotherapy.

The treatment appears to have taken its toll and Ms Roberts had clearly lost a significant amount of weight as she addressed the camera.


Wearing a pink baseball cap and navy top and pants, clutching a cold drink, she said in the video on her GMA blog: 'This journey is as much about the mind as it is the body.

Healthier: The TV host pictured in February, before her MDS diagnosis and treatment

'Thoughts. Thoughts are so powerful. You've got to change the way you think in order to change the way you feel,' she continued.

Then, repeating the words, almost as if to remind herself: 'You've got to change the way you think in order to change the way you feel.'

She also thanked fans for their love and support, adding: 'And let me just say this lastly, I feel the love and I thank you for it. Thank you.'

Ms Roberts and her 'ABC Family' have been keeping fans up-to-date on her progress

The star wrote a touching message on her blog on Tuesday to let people know that she's staying positive.

'Last Sunday to lift my spirits I threw a little party at my apartment for my GMA family,' she wrote. 'The next morning I walked through the hospital doors, with my guardian angels - mom & dad - back together and blazing a trail ahead of me.'

She also described how her body was responding to the daily doses of chemotherapy.

'The start of last week went well but the daily chemo/treatment caught up to me by the weekend,' it read.

'My body is so weak but not my mind. YOU give me the courage to keep going.'
'So today is my last day of chemo... Wednesday is called a day of rest, yay, right! The transplant is scheduled for Thursday morning.'

Ms Roberts will undergo the bone marrow transplant to treat a rare blood disorder called myelodysplastic syndrome or MDS - her sister Sally-Ann is the donor.

The disease has damaged the GMA host's bone marrow, and likely arose as a result of the chemotherapy Roberts' underwent in 2007 to successfully treat her breast cancer, according to GMA's chief health and medical editor, Richard Besser.

Ms Roberts isn't expected to reclaim her seat on GMA for several months, to allow her time to recover.

The TV anchor suffered another emotional blow on August 30 when her beloved mother, Lucimarian, passed away at home in Mississippi at the age of 88 - her father, Lawrence, died in 2004

The GMA family: Ms Roberts tweeted a photo from her send off, before her admission to hospital. She is seen between her co-host Josh Elliot (left) and ABC's senior executive producer Tom Cibrowski (right)