Whoopi Goldberg Is 'Grateful' for Not Losing Her Battle with Bilateral Pneumonia

Whoopi Goldberg suffered a fatal health condition after thinking she only had a common cold. The host ended up being in the hospital for almost a month, with a 30 percent chance of death.

Whoopi Goldberg is still recovering from her previous health scare which she opened up about in March. What she thought was merely a common cold ended up being a life-threatening illness with a 30 percent chance of death, according to the doctors.

“I’m lucky to be alive. I’m happy to be alive,” Goldberg told PEOPLE. “I’m grateful to be alive.”

“The View” host was diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs and sepsis, a fatal condition which can lead to organ failure and tissue damage. Part of her treatment in the hospital was having her lungs drained twice a day.

Because of her health, Goldberg had to take a six-week leave from the talk show “The View” and returned on March 18. Although she is back to regular programming in the show, her road to recovery is still not finished.

“I’ve cut down a lot of the stuff that I would normally be doing, and I have to rest,” she said. “There’s no getting around it. In the morning I go and do the show, then afterward I have my other work, and by 3 o’clock, I have to sit down. I have to stop. It’s taking a little while, but I’m getting there.”

During her hiatus from the show, fans were left guessing about what had happened to the award-winning actress. Theories behind her absence sparked on social media with one saying she spent time rehearsing to host the Oscars secretly.

The guess doesn’t come as a surprise after she became the first woman to host the show alone. Additionally, Goldberg dropped a comment on “The View” about her interest in hosting the Academy Awards.