Maria Menounos Opens Up About Private Cancer Diagnosis Amid Surrogate Pregnancy
Maria Menounos has had quite a health journey. The former E! News correspondent has been candid about all of the struggles that she has faced, including her cancer diagnosis while expecting a baby via surrogate. But cancer has not been the only thing that the star has dealt with. In 2017, the star revealed to People that doctors diagnosed her with a brain tumor. To make matters even worse, she was caring for her mother, who had stage 4 brain cancer. The journalist revealed that a few symptoms clued her in that something may be wrong. "I'd been getting lightheaded on set and having headaches," she shared. "My speech had gotten slurred, and I was having difficulty reading the teleprompter."
After experiencing symptoms, Menounos made a doctor's appointment, where she was scheduled for an MRI. There, she discovered the devastating news — a tumor the size of a golf ball. "I didn't cry. I actually laughed. It's so surreal and crazy and unbelievable that my mom has a brain tumor—and now I have one too?" she recalled. According to Brain & Life, Menounos also spoke about the diagnosis on her self-titled radio show, "Conversations with Maria Menounos." She told listeners that when she and her husband told her parents they needed to tell them something, they thought she was pregnant. "Then we had to tell them I wasn't pregnant," she recalled. "It was awful.
Now, as she actually awaits the arrival of her first baby, she received another devastating diagnosis.
Maria Menounos grateful to be alive
Maria Menounos got candid about a recent health scare that rocked her world. In an interview with People, she spoke about her private battle with pancreatic cancer. To make matters even more heartbreaking, the news of her diagnosis came at what should have been such a joyous time in her life as she and her husband, Keven Undergaro, are expecting their first child together via surrogate — after years of trying to grow their family.
Doctors diagnosed Menounos with stage 2 pancreatic cancer in January, and it was a tough blow. "This whole year has been trauma, stress, crisis. There was a minute when we were planning something, and then it became too much. I thought, 'I just need to heal,'" she said of planning a baby shower amid the diagnosis. Doctors removed a large tumor from Menounos' pancreas, part of her spleen, and 17 lymph nodes. Fortunately, the cancer had not spread. "I'm so grateful and so lucky," she told the outlet of finding the cancer early. "God granted me a miracle. I'm going to appreciate having her in my life so much more than I would have before this journey," she said. Menounos also vowed to raise awareness for the early detection of cancer.
In addition, Menounos shared a post on Instagram. "I still haven't come to grips with it all, including the fact that so very few even survive pancreatic cancer," she wrote before adding how "grateful" she is to be alive.