Longtime ‘Days Of Our Lives’ Star Suzanne Rogers Reveals Stage 2 Cancer Diagnosis

Days Of Our Lives actress Suzanne Rogers, who is the longest-running actor on an American soap opera, announced she was diagnosed with colorectal cancer this summer.

The 82-year-old actress revealed the news to TVInsider and opened up about her treatment journey, during which many of her co-stars proved to be very supportive.

Rogers shared that after going for her routine colonoscopy, her doctor suggested she also undergo an MRI, a PET scan, and a biopsy. “He said, ‘You have cancer and you have to start treatment,’” Rogers recounted to TVInsider. “It was all a shock. 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.’”

The actress shared that she underwent “radiation every day and chemo every day for six weeks” beginning just three days after she wrapped on Days of our Lives this summer.

“It was tough,” she says. “It was tough knowing you had to do it five days a week and then you had off Saturday and Sunday. I thoroughly enjoyed my weekends because I didn’t have to go to and see a doctor. I was so tired of seeing doctors.”

She admitted that it “was scary” having to go to these appointments, so co-star Linsey Godfrey, who plays her on-screen daughter Sarah Horton, would join her.

“I had to have an infusion, and it takes about an hour and a half, so Linsey sat there with me and held my hand while I was having it,” Rogers relays. “We would go out to lunch or dinner with Paul Telfer [who plays Sarah’s ex-husband, Xander Kiriakis] and Linsey’s daughter, Aleda. I knew I could count on them, so it was a lovely experience on and off the set. We really feel like a family.”

Rogers has starred in over 3,200 episodes of Days of our Lives since she originated the character of Maggie in 1973.

TVInsider notes production on Days of our Lives is 10 months ahead so Rogers will not appear on the show for a certain stretch of time in 2026. However, she will certainly be returning. She completed treatment July 31 and will be starting next week. Rogers admitted that she’s feeling a bit “anxious” about returning to work, but it has nothing to do with her diagnosis, as she feels her energy is slowly “coming back.”

She said, “I start back to work next week, so we’ll see how that goes. Now, I’m feeling anxious like I do any time I get scripts because I want to do my very best and you don’t want to hold up anybody. So that’s the only anxiousness I feel. It’s not because of my illness, let’s put it that way.”

Now that she’s “come out on the other side,” Rogers is feeling positive.

“It’s so funny because I used to worry about some silly things,” she reflects. “And when you go through this, it kind of takes you a while to say, ‘OK, well, this is what I have, and I will do my very best to fight it and to get through it.’ And that’s what I did. 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.”

Days of our Lives is streaming on Peacock.