HEALTHHoda Kotb Is Not Letting Her Daughter's Scary Disease Diagnosis Rule Her Life
Hoda Kotb is gracefully coping with her daughter Hope's serious diagnosis.
May 28 2025, Published 2:37 p.m. ET
Hoda Kotb spends more time now with her children.
"I was very worried about her, and a friend said to me, 'Don't put your worry on Hope, number one,'" she recalled on the Wednesday, May 28, episode of TODAY With Jenna & Friends. "'And number two, think about all the time you spend thinking about Hope's medical thing: breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, bedtime. Total: 30 minutes.' 23 and a half hours of the day, she's not that. She's just a kid playing."
Putting things in perspective helped her come to terms with Hope's diabetes, "settle" and "be calm."
Why Did Hoda Kotb Leave 'TODAY'?
Hoda Kotb revealed her daughter Hope's diabetes diagnosis.
Upon leaving TODAY in 2025, Hoda wanted to "fix [her] gaze" and spend more time with her kids.
"I found myself always some place else following her numbers. If I was here, I had my phone open, always," she explained to host Jenna Bush Hager. "You used to ask me, 'What are her numbers? How is she doing?' I just felt like I was too out of reach to help if she needed me. That was one of many, many reasons I decided it was time for me to do something different."
Now that she is spending more time with the tot, she worries less, since she can "see her." She noted that it was a transition for her kids — Hope and Haley, 8 — having their mom around the house more, but they are thrilled over the change.
- Hoda Kotb Admits There Was a 'Scary Stretch' of Time After Daughter Hope Was in the ICU Due To Mystery Health Issue: 'There's Nothing You Can Do'
- Is Hoda Kotb Leaving 'Today' to Care for Her 3-Year-Old Daughter After The Toddler's Health Scare?
- Hoda Kotb Reveals It Was 'Tough' Watching Daughter Hope Endure Recent Health Issue: 'You’re Helpless'
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Hoda Kotb's Daughter Hope's Diabetes Diagnosis
Hoda Kotb left 'TODAY' earlier this year.
The media personality further expressed how she's coping with Hope's chronic condition in a May 28 interview.
"She was getting shots — four or five a day — every day for a year. Now she is getting them less frequently because we have some other means to get her what she needs, but there’s a lot to it," she told an outlet. "Some kids can have sweets, and she can’t. If she’s up in the night, we have to take care of her at night."
Hoda Kotb said Hope is still 'happy' and 'healthy.'
Struggles aside, the young child is still a "happy, healthy, rambunctious, amazing kid."
"Diabetes is a part of her but not all of her," Hoda said. "I hope it shapes her but never defines her."
Hope was diagnosed back in February 2023 when she was rushed to the hospital for two weeks. Her mom took time off from TODAY at the time to be by her side.
The TV star co-parents her kids with ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman.
