Sophia Michaels
Maria Menounos secretly battled pancreatic cancer earlier this year while awaiting the arrival of her first baby via surrogate. The journalist revealed in a new interview that she received her diagnosis in January after months of severe leg cramps and abdominal pain. Following a whole-body MRI and biopsy, Menounos, 44, was diagnosed with a stage 2 pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor. The following month, the journalist underwent surgery to remove a tumor, part of her pancreas, her spleen, a large fibroid and 17 lymph nodes.
Menounos does not need any additional treatment and is feeling “so grateful and so lucky” to have caught the cancer early. She and her husband, Keven Undergaro, revealed in February that they are expecting their first child, a baby girl, via surrogate after nearly a decade of fertility struggles. Undergaro “slept in the hospital every night” after her “super painful” procedure, with Menounos unable to “move or lift [her]self up.”
Menounos’ health scare comes nearly six years after she had a benign brain tumor removed. Similarly, Menounos waited until having her successful surgery in July 2017 before letting her fans in on the journey. She now feels “so grateful and so lucky” to have caught the cancer early and is looking forward to the arrival of her daughter. “God granted me a miracle,” she gushed. “I’m going to appreciate having [my daughter] in my life so much more than I would have before this journey.”
