Heavy Hands cup together and hold cancer ribbons.
A former “Dancing with the Stars” finalist has opened up about the terrifying cancer diagnosis she recently received. Maria Menounos is expecting her first child, via surrogate, with her husband, and this cancer diagnosis came in the midst of that exciting process. Although she started to prepare for the worst, it seems she is in a good and hopeful place now.
Menounos competed on “Dancing with the Stars” with partner Derek Hough during season 14, which aired during the spring of 2012. They made it through the semi-finals, noted Entertainment Weekly, but were eliminated in fourth place the following week. Peta Murgatroyd and Donald Driver won season 14 of “DWTS,” with Mark Ballas and Katherine Jenkins in second place. William Levy and Cheryl Burke took third.
Here’s what you need to know:
Maria Menounos Was Diagnosed With Pancreatic Cancer
Menounos opened up to People about the frightening turn her life took in early 2023. “When you are met with a [potential] death sentence, everything changes,” she recalled of receiving a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer in January. “I was like ‘How could God finally bless me with a baby and then take me before I get to meet her?’ I guttural cried, it was so intense,” she detailed. In February, Menounos revealed she was expecting her first child via surrogate. Menounos and her husband, Keven Undergaro, went through a lengthy process in search of a way to build their family. They were not successful in conceiving naturally, nor was IVF successful. Even the path of surrogacy was complicated for them, but in February she confirmed they expected to welcome a girl over the summer.
According to Today, Menounos was diagnosed with a cancerous neuroendocrine tumor that was categorized as stage 2 pancreatic cancer. After learning she had pancreatic cancer, Menounos had surgery to remove the 3.9 cm tumor from her pancreas. Prior to knowing if she would survive the diagnosis, Menounos prepared her husband for the worst-case scenario. “If something happens, here are the people I want her [daughter] around and what I want you to do,” she told Undergaro. “You’ll probably have to move back East to be with my dad so that she has him.’ We talked about all of it. We imagined the worst.” While Menounos will be monitored closely going forward, she’s grateful the surgery was successful. “I had that moment where I thought I was a goner — but I’m OK because I caught this early enough,” she noted.
Menounos Discussed Her Path to a Diagnosis
The former “Dancing with the Stars” finalist explained that in 2022 she had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. It runs in her family, she noted, so it seems it was not an especially alarming discovery. However, in November, she was experiencing “excruciating abdominal pain coupled with diarrhea.” She went to the hospital and had a CT scan, but nothing was found. “They said, ‘Everything’s fine.’ But I kept having pains” like “someone was tearing my insides apart.” As the American Cancer Society notes, pancreatic cancer can be difficult to find when it is in its early stages. “People usually have no symptoms until the cancer has become very large or has already spread to other organs,” the organization’s website details.
In Menounos’ case, she had a friend who was able to offer access to a full-body MRI, and it was via that test that her tumor was found. In addition to removing the tumor via surgery, Menounos also had her spleen, part of her pancreas, 17 lymph nodes, and a fibroid removed. “It was super painful. I couldn’t move or lift myself up,” she said of how she felt after the surgery. Menounos noted she will not need chemotherapy or other treatments at this point. She will have a scan done yearly for the next five years to monitor any changes, though.
Menounos previously had another cancer scare when it was discovered she had a golf-ball-size meningioma brain tumor. The tumor was benign, but Menounos still needed a 7-hour surgery to have it removed. The situation played out as Menounos’ mother, Litsa, battled stage 4 brain cancer. Litsa died in May 2021, detailed USA Today. Now, as she opens up about her pancreatic cancer, she quips, “How in the freaking world can I have a brain tumor and pancreatic cancer?” As she moves forward from the cancer diagnosis and anticipates her daughter’s arrival, she details, “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.”