Maria Menounos Battles Back from Brain Tumor Surgery
by EG
Since being diagnosed with a brain tumor last June, E! News anchor Maria Menounos has been concentrating on recovery. This week, she opened up about what she's been going through.
Maria Menounos had a benign meningioma brain tumor removed this past June, and she sat down with Today's Savannah Guthrie on Wednesday's edition of the NBC morning show to speak about her recovery.
"I still have a hard time chewing on my right side, because it was on my right side so it affected the trigeminal nerve, which controls all of your face," said Menounos, addressing the lingering physical symptoms she's had. "And so chewing here, my jaw, it's not right yet. Little things — I can get dizzy moving my head side-to-side, so sometimes I look like I've been in a car accident so I just shift carefully."
However, she said she keeps everything in perspective. "Overall I just feel so lucky to be functioning and to be almost normal and to not have cancer," said the former E! News host.
In addition to her own health problems, Menounos has been supporting her mother, who was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. She calls the experience "an emotional ride" and said that right now, her mother is "stable and doing well."
Maria Menounos stepped down as co-anchor of E! News amid a battle with the brain tumor.
She held the position since 2015 after joining the network in 2014.
“Our thoughts and support go out to Maria and her family and we wish them all the best knowing that Maria will tackle this with the same fierce dedication she is known for,” said Adam Stotsky, president of E! Entertainment. “We are grateful for Maria’s many contributions to E! over the past three years.”
"I am so grateful for the past three years at E!, I had such an amazing time co-hosting with Jason Kennedy and working everyday with the wonderful roster of talent on the show including producers, staff and crew,” said Menounos.
“It was such a special, good-hearted group and one I'll always consider family," she added. "A special thank you to Frances Berwick and Adam Stotsky for all the support they have shown me through the years especially during these tough times. I will truly miss everyone and looking forward to this next chapter in my life."
"I am going to take some time and focus on some passion projects and see what's next. I've always been so proud of being a hard worker, but there's so much more out there," Menounos said. "I just want to be still for a bit and see what I'm supposed to be in this world. For me, sharing this story is important on so many levels. I hate secrets. I also want to help women realize that they have to put themselves first. I wouldn't have ever known or imagined that this was going on if I hadn't seen the symptoms in my mom. I want to encourage people to find some stillness in their life so they can listen to their bodies — and hear what's going on."
Read the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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