Maria Menounos quietly overcame pancreatic cancer earlier this year.
The star’s world screeched to a halt in January when she was diagnosed with stage 2 cancer, not long after she and husband Kevin Undergaro learned their surrogate was expecting their first child.
“This whole year has been trauma, stress, crisis,” she told People magazine in an interview Wednesday.
Menounos was shocked to find out about her cancer diagnosis, having already battled a benign brain tumor in 2017.
“I was feeling so good, and then I got slapped in the face with a new diagnosis,” the former E! News correspondent said.
The star noticed something was off after she began having deep leg cramps in June 2022. “Excruciating” abdominal pain coupled with diarrhea followed.
David Livingston via Getty Images
“I’d scream out loud, I was inconsolable,” she said of the symptoms.
Though Menounos underwent extensive tests during her illness, her pancreatic cancer wasn’t discovered until she received a full-body MRI at the start of this year.
“I’m like, ‘How in the freaking world can I have a brain tumor and pancreatic cancer?’” she said. “All I could think was that I have a baby coming.”
The cancer was detected early enough to be operated on, and in February, Menounous endured a “super painful” surgery to have the 3.9 centimeter mass removed along with parts of her pancreas, her spleen, a large fibroid and 17 lymph nodes.
Now that her health problems are behind her, the “Extra!” alum is focusing on her soon-to-be baby.
“I’m so grateful and so lucky,” she said. “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.”
Menounos and Undergaro announced they were expecting in early February. Prior to that, the star openly discussed her experience with IVF and infertility.
In 2018, she told People she was putting faith behind her family planning.
“I really believe that God has a plan,” she said. “If I’m supposed to have a baby, it’s going to happen. If not, maybe God is protecting me from this tumor growing.”