TV presenter Maria Menounos has revealed she was treated for stage 2 pancreatic cancer.
The 44-year-old host of US programmes including E! News and Access Hollywood was diagnosed in January and underwent successful surgery to remove a 3.9cm tumour.
Speaking to People magazine, Menounos, who was previously treated for a benign brain tumour in 2017, described how starting in June last year she suffered a series of health issues.
She began having severe leg cramps and was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, which runs in her family.
Doctors prescribed her insulin and she went on a strict diet while monitoring her glucose levels.
A month later she was back in hospital with “excruciating abdominal pain coupled with diarrhoea”.
A CT scan and further testing showed nothing but on a flight several weeks later the pain became so bad it was like “someone was tearing my insides out”, she said
After a whole body MRI the mass on her pancreas was discovered.
A subsequent biopsy confirmed it was a stage 2 pancreatic neuroendocrine tumour.
She was given a good prognosis and underwent surgery in February to remove the mass alongside part of her pancreas, her spleen, a large fibroid and 17 lymph nodes.
Menounos, who is expecting a baby girl this summer via surrogate with husband Keven Undergaro, told People: “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.”