Only in the new issue of Closer Weekly, former GMA host and cancer survivor Joan Lunden shows off her adorable first grandson, Mason, while opening up about the joys of being a grandmother and her journey battling cancer.

“The second I saw him, I thought he was the cutest little thing in the world,” Joan, 65, tells Closer, as she posed for photos with her daughter Jamie Krauss Hess and Mason, born Sept. 9. “It’s like, what a difference a year makes!”

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Closer Weekly

Joan and her newborn grandson, Mason.

Joan — who is now cancer-free — shared last June that she had been battling a particularly aggressive strain of breast cancer. While she was being treated with chemotherapy in August 2014, Joan’s daughter Lindsay gave birth to the star’s first grandchild, Parker. “Parker was born on one of my sickest days,” she tells Closer. “I didn’t want [my daughter] to know… I was incredibly sick, but I was so overjoyed for Lindsay.”

RELATED: Joan Lunden Still Has the Energy to Keep Up With Seven Kids After Battling Breast Cancer

Joan, who’s been married to businessman Jeff Konigsberg since 2000, has three adult daughters (Jamie, 35, Lindsay, 32 and Sarah, 28) and is mom to two sets of twins, Kate and Max, 12, and Kim and Jack, 10.

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Joan with her daughters Jamie, Lindsay and Sarah in March 2006.

“I came out [of my cancer battle] incredibly appreciative of every little nuance of life, especially new babies,” she admits, adding that she is especially looking forward to more family celebrations. “Holidays, birthdays — events at my house are big, rambunctious and maybe a little chaotic, but really, really full of joy and fun! I feel really blessed to be a grandma!”

For more exclusive pics, pick up the new issue of Closer Weekly, on newsstands now!