Maria Menounos’ journey to motherhood has not been easy. She and husband Keven Undergaro have been trying to become parents for 10 years. In February of this year, the couple announced that they are expecting her first child via a surrogate.
It turns out that Maria was also fighting a private battle the public knew nothing about until now. Maria revealed exclusively to People magazine that in January she was diagnosed with stage 2 pancreatic cancer. Maria is sharing her story so others can learn about the importance of early detection.
"I need people to know there are places they can go to catch things early," she urged. "You can't let fear get in the way. I had that moment where I thought I was a goner — but I'm okay because I caught this early enough."
Maria has gone through some difficult times as of late. In 2017, she underwent brain surgery to remove a benign tumor. Her mother was battling brain cancer at the time and died in May 2021.
More from LittleThings: Maria Menounos Finally Marries Partner Of 19 Years In Surprise Live Ceremony On New Year's Eve
Maria was celebrating becoming a mother when she was thrown another curveball. She began having horrible cramps in her legs in June 2022.
"I was feeling so good, and then I got slapped in the face with a new diagnosis," she recalled. "The cramps were debilitating. I'd scream out loud, I was inconsolable."
These cramps landed Maria in the hospital, where she was eventually diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. She has a family history of this, with both her brother and father sharing the diagnosis. She began to take insulin, changed her eating habits, and kept an eye on her glucose levels, which worked wonders. By October 2022, she was feeling great.
"I was crushing it," Maria recalled. "I felt so good. What else could go wrong?" Those are some famous last words.
In November 2022, Maria was back in the hospital, but this time for "excruciating abdominal pain coupled with diarrhea." After running a CT scan and many other tests, doctors could not find the cause of her pain and released her. The pain persisted.
Maria sought answers and completed a full body MRI with Prenuvo. This discovered a 3.9 cm mass located on her pancreas. A biopsy revealed this mass was cancerous, specifically a stage 2 pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor.
This news came as a shock to Maria, who had already been through so much. "I'm like 'How in the freaking world can I have a brain tumor and pancreatic cancer?'" she recalled. "All I could think was that I have a baby coming."
Maria underwent surgery to remove the tumor. Doctors also took out part of her pancreas, her spleen, a large fibroid, and 17 lymph nodes. Recovery was not easy.
"It was super painful. I couldn't move or lift myself up,” Maria recalled. She got through it all with the help of her husband and her father. She is now cancer-free and will not have to go through chemotherapy, only periodic scans.
Despite all she has been through, Maria remains thankful for her many blessings.
"I'm so grateful and so lucky. 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,” Maria concluded.
