American E! News co-anchor, Maria Menounos, has left the network to receive emergency surgery after being diagnosed with a ‘golf ball-sized’ brain tumour.
Menounos, 39, announced her departure on the show Monday (US time), after three years with the network. She’s also an author, actress and occasional professional wrestler with WWE.
She initially revealed her diagnosis this week in People mag, explaining that she started suffering from a variety of symptoms in February prior to her diagnosis.
“I’d been getting lightheaded on set and having headaches,” she told People.“My speech had gotten slurred and I was having difficulty reading the teleprompter.”
After undergoing an MRI it was discovered Menounos had a golf-ball-sized meningioma brain tumour pushing against her facial nerves. In June, she underwent a mammoth seven-hour surgery to remove the benign tumour.
She’s now recovering at home with her mother, who, in a cruel twist of fate, is battling stage 4 brain cancer.
“It’s so surreal and crazy and unbelievable that my mom has a brain tumour and now I have one too?” she said.
“I don’t have my balance fully yet but as long as I’m holding on to [my fiance], I’m sturdy and fine,” Menounos told People.“My face is still numb. This is something that takes at least a month of healing, but I’m getting stronger and stronger every day and I’ll be back to normal very soon. 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,” she continued.“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 [sic] 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.”
We wish Menounos all the best with her recovery.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter.
Photo: Jason LaVeris / Getty.