Robin Quivers has sure made a lot of money while working on the beloved SiriusXM radio show, The Howard Stern Show. Perhaps she hasn't made nearly as much as Howard Stern, but that's to be expected given that he is the face and main attraction for his millions of fans. But avid listeners of the show (which has been around in some form or another for over 40-years) know that Robin Quivers isn't there for the money. She's there because she adores her job... and she adores Howard even more.
While Howard and Robin have many on-air disagreements about love, television, and how to behave while ordering bottles of wine for people, the two are actually best friends.
Head writer Fred Norris may have been around Howard the longest out of anyone on The Howard Stern Show, but Robin isn't far behind... and she is by far the closest person to him. Not just on the show, but in real life. This is with the obvious exception of Howard's current and second wife, Beth.
One of the reasons for this is because of how Howard acted when Robin was diagnosed with a very serious form of Cancer. Robin almost died, and Howard stood by her side the entire time. In fact, Robin claims that she "wouldn't be alive" if it weren't for Howard Stern... Here's why...
Inside Robin Quiver's Battle With Cancer
In 2012, listeners of The Howard Stern Show noticed that something was different about Robin on the show. She wasn't acting weird, she just sounded a bit different. Additionally, she rarely interacted with celebrity guests who appeared in the New York studio. This is because Robin was working on the show via an ISDN line for over a year...
It wasn't until a couple of months after it was revealed that she wasn't in the studio that Robin told the audience that she was battling cancer.
For a show that's built on honest and talking about what's going on in their lives, Howard, Robin, and the entirety of the Stern Show staff were able to keep this private battle a total secret from the listeners. That is until Robin was ready to share it.
After attending a friend's wedding, Robin found herself unable to urinate. This brought her to the hospital where it was discovered that she had a "grapefruit-sized" tumor pressing against her bladder. Robin consulted several doctors who diagnosed her with Gradee 3 endometrial cancer.
There was practically no hope for recovery.
The tumor had grown and attached itself to almost every single one of her most vital Organs. This was as bad as it could get.
The radio show personality, best-selling author, former nurse, and U.S. Armed Forces veteran underwent a 12-hour surgery.
"There were two reasons that the operation was so long. It took eight hours to remove the tumor because it was so huge, it was lying on all the organs in my pelvis, and they literally had to scrape it off when they got to it. But also, they couldn't even figure out how to operate 'cause it was so massive," Robin explained on The Howard Stern Show.
Every couple of hours, new information about Robin's surgery was being revealed to her closest family and friends, Howard included, by her friend Susan Schneidermesser. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Susan claimed that she had never heard a grown man cry as much as Howard did each time she spoke with him. He also claimed he would end his show had Robin passed.
"I was already making funeral arrangements," Howard said on his radio show. "Not to make light of this situation, but I was freaking out. It was just this f***ing crazy thing that came out of left field and it was going down real quick."
Luckily, the surgery went well and Robin went to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where she was treated with chemotherapy and an ileostomy. After three months, she was deemed cancer-free. Still, she had to recover at home... This is where she worked almost every single day for her 15-month recovery, something she felt kept her alive.
But Howard Was Responsible for Keeping Her Going
During a very emotional 2013 interview on Extra conducted by Howard's wife Beth, Robin claimed that she owed Howard just about everything.
"I think [Howard] was more concerned for me than I was concerned for myself," Robin admitted.
"He really was," Beth agreed. "He was up night after night after night throughout your whole ordeal."
Robin said that there was a point in her journey through cancer where Howard "just took over." Howard did everything he could to get Robin the absolute best doctors and treatment America had to offer. And that's precisely what he did.
"Oh my God, he visited all the time. We talked all the time. He wanted to know about every appointment."
Howard also made Robin laugh constantly. This included bringing Robin an unnecessary amount of chewing gum, painting her a self-portrait, and complaining about how bad his life was while she was still recovering in hospital.
Of course, Howard also made sure that Robin could get her wish of remaining on the show while recovering at home. He did everything to make that happen as well as keep it secret from the audience until she was ready. This structure and purpose kept Robin going and allowed her to have a full recovery.
"I would wish everyone in the world a friend like Howard," Robin said. "Because you couldn't be more loved and more supported. And he's done that for me my entire life since I've known him."
At the end of the interview with Beth, Robin Quivers explained the touching dedication she wrote for Howard in her book. She claimed she meant every word and then simply said, "He's the reason I'm alive."