Elisabeth Hasselbeck says she had a benign tumor removed from her abdomen

NEW YORK, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Television personality Elisabeth Hasselbeck says she underwent surgery to remove a benign tumor from her abdomen in October.

The Fox & Friends co-host has been off the air for a month, while she dealt with the health issue, the nature of which she did not reveal until she returned to work Friday.

"I'm so glad and thankful to be back with all of you," Hasselbeck said on the Fox News Channel program.

"I had a bit of a scare," continued the 37-year-old mother of three children. "I had a tumor in my abdomen. Doctor said: 'Look, you've got to get it out by the end of the month. We don't like how it looks.' I was facing something that potentially could have gone either way. I did what they said. I had a phenomenal surgeon and I really had a scary week where we didn't know what the results were, but I'm OK. ... Thankfully, I had the blessing of it not being cancer."

Hasselbeck is a former co-host of ABC's The View.