Even after 23 years of marriage, Harry Connick Jr. still gazes at Jill Goodacre like a lovestruck adolescent.
“She’s my best friend, and I really don’t know what I would do without her,” the actor, multiplatinum recording artist and host of the daytime talk show, Harry, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue as he and his wife reveal her five-year battle with breąst cancer.
“I was scared I was going to lose her, absolutely,” says Connick Jr., 50, whose mother died of ovarian cancer when he was 13. “I wasn’t going to let her see that, but I was. I know from losing my mom that the worst can happen.”
In October 2012 — breąst cancer awareness month — Goodacre was diagnosed with Stage 1 invasive ductal carcinoma and immediately underwent a lumpectomy, which didn’t come back with clean margins. Read more at PEOPLE.com.
If you're concerned about breast cancer, you might be wondering if there are steps you can take toward breast cancer prevention. Some risk factors, such as family history, can't be changed. However, there are lifestyle changes you can make to lower your risk. Understand what you can do to reduce your breast cancer risk at Mayoclinic.org.