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Hoda Kotb, longtime host of NBC's "The Today Show," is speaking out about the deeper reasons she decided to leave her post.
Kotb returned as a guest on Wednesday for the first time since her departure from "Today" in January.
During the appearance, she revealed that her younger daughter, Hope, 6, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
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Kotb, 60, noted that spending more time with both her daughters, including Haley, 8, was one of her motivations for leaving.
She told TODAY.com that Hope's condition "definitely weighed in."
"As anyone with a child who has type 1, especially a little kid, you're constantly watching, you're constantly monitoring, you're constantly checking, which is what I did all the time when I was [at 'Today']," she said. "You're distracted."
"You just get a priority check in your life," Kotb expressed to co-anchors Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin during the segment. "I can be here and sweating what's happening to Hope in the morning and in the night, or I can be there and feel relief."
Kotb stressed that she tries not to "put her worry" on Hope, adding that her daughter is "fine for most of the day."
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"There are just moments where you have to watch her," Kotb said. "I was totaling it up - five minutes at breakfast, five minutes at lunch, five minutes at dinner, sometimes overnight."
"Add that up, that's a half-hour. So, for 23 ½ hours, she's every other kid. So, I try to remember that."
The Cleveland Clinic defines type 1 diabetes as a chronic autoimmune disease that prevents the pancreas from producing insulin.
This requires daily management with insulin injections and blood sugar monitoring.
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Type 1 diabetes occurs when the immune system "mistakenly attacks and destroys cells" in the pancreas, which can happen over months or years, the above source stated.
Symptoms of type 1 diabetes can include excessive thirst and hunger, frequent urination, unexplained weight loss, fatigue, blurred vision and slow healing of cuts and sores.
In comparison, type 2 diabetes involves insulin resistance. This can cause the pancreas to not produce enough insulin and the body to not use the insulin as it should.
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Obesity and lack of exercise, among other lifestyle and genetic factors, can contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes, according to experts.
Type 2 diabetes is more common than type 1 and is more likely to occur in older adults, while type 1 is most prevalent in children and young adults.
Kotb shared with TODAY.com that Hope's early symptoms mimicked the flu and were so severe that she had to be "raced" to the hospital.
Now that Kotb knows how to handle Hope's condition, she's offering her space to be a regular kid, she said.
"Don't put your worry on your kid," she advised fellow parents.
"Watch them, but don't put your worry on them. Let them be kids and give them what they need when they need it."
