Hoda Kotb offered some words of wisdom for people with cancer during a recent event celebrating those who have braved their way through breast cancer diagnoses.

Kotb, who retired from her long-running Today show co-hosting gig in January, told People that an individual who gets a cancer diagnosis should “take a deep breath and slow down” when they first learn that they are sick. She also urged those battling cancer to understand that they will need to “go through what you need to go through” along their health journey.

Kotb spoke with the magazine while attending an annual Runway for Recovery event held on Feb. 27 at The Lighthouse at Pier 61 in New York City, N.Y. The nonprofit’s annual show “celebrates those who are fighting, remembers those who have passed, and inspires us to support those who have been impacted by breast cancer,” according to the organization’s website.

Kotb was among the breast cancer survivors attending this year’s event. The mom of two was first diagnosed back in 2007 and underwent a mastectomy as part of her treatment.

Last summer, Kotb reflected on her battle with breast cancer during a special episode of her Making Space podcast celebrating her 60th birthday. The TV personality said she “so clearly” remembered first finding out that she was sick, “because I was thinking to myself, like, ‘How do I have breast cancer?’ And, ‘Why do I need a mastectomy?’ And, ‘How did this even happen?’ And, ’Is this a mistake?’ And, ‘What does this mean?’”

“I worried that everyone who had cancer died of cancer,” she explained to her podcast’s listeners. “And I thought, ‘Oh my god. Well, I have it now. So is that what that means?’”

Kotb reiterated her surprise at the Runway for Recovery event as she told People that, prior to her diagnosis, she “didn’t think” she would ever battle breast cancer. After getting the call from her doctor, “I go, ‘It can’t be me. Why would it be me?’” she remembered. “I’ve never done any of the things that would lead to this diagnosis, but yet it came.”