TV and Sirius XM radio host Maria Menounos reveals that she underwent complex surgery earlier this month to remove a golf-ball-sized brain tumor that was pushing on her facial nerves.
In the new issue of People, Menonous, who has also worked for “E!,” “Extra” and “Access Hollywood,” explains that her diagnosis came at the same time she was caring for her mother, who has stage 4 brain cancer.
Menounos, who also appeared on “Dancing With the Stars,” said she began to experience troubling symptoms in February. “I’d been getting lightheaded on set and having headaches,” she said. “My speech had gotten slurred and I was having difficulty reading the teleprompter.”
An MRI revealed Menounos had a meningioma brain tumor. “I didn’t cry. I actually laughed,” she said. “It’s so surreal and crazy and unbelievable that my mom has a brain tumor—and now I have one too?”
The surgery took place June 8th, Menonous’ 39th birthday. Her Los Angeles-based neurosurgeon, Keith L. Black, had also been taking care of her mother. “He said, ‘I’m 98 percent sure it’s benign but we won’t know until we get in there,’” she said.
