Kathie Lee Gifford recalls 'one of the most painful situations of my life' as former Today host opens up

Kathie Lee Gifford is on the promotional circuit once more, preparing to release a new historical nonfiction book titled Herod and Mary: The True Story of the Tyrant King and the Mother of the Risen Savior .

The 70-year-old TV star, however, is also currently recovering from an earlier hip replacement surgery, and opened up in a new interview about dealing with that pain simultaneously.

She told People that while she had hoped the surgery would be quick and easy, it ended up being "one of the most painful situations of my entire life" and required extensive recovery time and patience.

Kathie Lee joked that she "jumped off that gurney after my surgery," but was quickly told that she needed to slow things down. "I walked, I climbed, I walked, and my doctor said, 'Kathie, no. You have got to realize that this is serious.'"

The former Today with Kathie Lee and Hoda host admitted that she got a little too gung-ho about speeding through her healing. "I was off my walker in two days. I was off all my medications in three days, and then I did too much. I just did too much because that's who I am."

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The experience taught her to slow down and take it easy. She added: "I started carrying books around and signing and getting ready, and my grandchildren came to visit. And you can't."

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"I have learned from this that you only can only do so much. You're just human. You're just human. And I'm so grateful."

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Kathie Lee revealed that she had to undergo the surgery because her hips were "down to the nubs," and her doctor attributed it to her very active lifestyle and the fact that she was constantly working and always on the go.

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"You climbed mountains, you made movies, you got on stages. You never took off your high heels, and you kept going and that's why you're going through what you're going through," is what she remembered her surgeon telling her.

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She defiantly stated, though, that she had no intention of permanently slowing down and was proud of the way she'd led her life with such vigor. "[I ask myself] would I change that? No, I was doing what God put me on this earth to do. Every year of it, I was doing what He called me to do."

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The star is now promoting her new work, and says was inspired to write it after a rabbinical trip to Israel recently and the conversations it sparked with her son Cody, 34.

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"I came home from this trip completely immersed in the story of Herod and I told my son about it. I said, 'Cody, do you know the history of Herod?' And he goes, 'No.'"

She continued: "I ordered 10 books on him and read whatever books came in. I think there were five that were actually available. And I was blown away by the story of him. If Jesus is the greatest story ever told, Herod is the greatest story never told. I was blown away by everything about him."