Oh no! Larry King revealed on Wednesday, Sept. 13 that he underwent a secret battle with lung cancer over the summer — and our hearts are breaking for him.

He dealt with the health issue privately, but now he’s speaking out to spread awareness to his fans about the disease. “The reason I go public with it is to tell people, ‘Get a chest X-ray,'” the 83-year-old told Extra in a new interview. “If I had not had the chest X-ray, it would have progressed.”

After doctors found a spot on the broadcaster’s chest, they performed surgery, and learned it was only stage 1. “On July 17, I had the surgery here at Cedars,” Larry said of his hospital experience. “They took it out. It was malignant. They were going to take it out if it was malignant or benign. They tested it. They said, ‘You are fine.’ It was stage 1.” Phew!

Thankfully now, he’s feeling better than ever! “I feel good, I get my checkups, I stay healthy and I love working,” he said of his career. “I do Ora.TV, I do politicking, I still make speeches, I’m active.”

And even though he’s been working for more than 60 years, he has no plans to retire. In a previous exclusive interview with Closer Weekly, he confessed not working is totally out of the question. “Seven decades — shoot, I can’t believe it myself,” he said. “I love working and don’t know what I’d do if I retired. I’ve been curious all my life, so I’ve taken that and made it a living.”

When asked how he wants to be remembered by his fans, he quipped to Closer, “I’d like to be here so they don’t have to remember me at all! I’d like the headline to read, ‘Oldest Man Who Ever Lived!'” He joked to Extra, “I’ll die on the air probably.”