Maria Menounos has revealed the bizarre symptom that led to a diagnosis of one of the deadliest cancers.
The 45-year-old TV personality suffered excruciating pain that felt like she was exploding inside after eating farro salad on a flight.
Doctors initially dismissed her bloating symptoms, but after she went to a second hospital for a checkup, she was diagnosed with stage two pancreatic cancer.
Menounos, who was awaiting the birth of her daughter Athena through a surrogate at the time, underwent surgery to remove the 1.5-inch tumor and said she is now in remission.
Maria Menounos, 45, of Massachusetts, began experiencing excruciating stomach pains after eating a farro salad. She was eventually diagnosed with stage two pancreatic cancer
She has opened up about her diagnosis and urged others to advocate for their health, even when doctors tell them their symptoms are nothing to worry about
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers in America, with only one in 10 patients surviving more than a year after diagnosis.
The disease is a rarer type of cancer. Around 64,000 cases are diagnosed every year – three percent of all cancer cases.
However, it is usually not recognized until later stages, when the disease is more advanced and has spread to other areas of the body, making treatment more difficult.
This is because it rarely triggers symptoms in its early stages and the warning signs can be so subtle that they are dismissed as less serious health conditions.
According to the American Cancer Society, about two-thirds of patients diagnosed with cancer are over 65, and almost all are over 45.
Menounos said today that her case highlights the need to listen to the symptoms in the body, even when doctors dismiss them.
She told TODAY that after eating the salad, she “had this kind of pain where you felt like you were going to explode inside.”
“I thought it was the farro. “I thought I really had a gluten intolerance and my stomach didn’t handle it well,” she added.
After the stomach pain occurred in 2022, Menounos went to her doctor for an endoscopy and colonoscopy, but nothing unusual came up.
She also had a CT scan, which also revealed nothing – the results even described her pancreas as “unremarkable.”
But her symptoms persisted, and the TV personality also suffered from diarrhea and collapsed in pain again in November 2022.
This prompted her to go to another hospital in January for a full-body MRI scan, which discovered the tumor in her pancreas. She was later told that the CT scan had missed this because it didn’t show up as clearly as the MRI.
She underwent surgery as quickly as possible and in February 2023 the tumor was surgically removed along with part of her pancreas, part of the spleen and 17 lymph nodes – which are part of a separate circulatory system in the body for fluids.
The cancer had not spread to her body and she did not need further treatment.
The images above show the cancer at stage 0 as well as stages IA and IB
The above shows stage two pancreatic cancer, in which a tumor has developed in the pancreas
In stage three, the tumor has grown and begun to spread to nearby lymph nodes
And in the fourth stage, it begins to spread to other areas of the body through the bloodstream
Menounos is doing well now, but she continues to monitor for symptoms and logs any worrisome feelings in a book so she can keep track.
Posting a picture of her in a bikini showing off her surgery scars, the mother wrote on social media: “I look back on the surgery earlier this year and am grateful for the strength God has blessed me with, to get through, and of course for everything.” beautiful people that he also sent me to help me!
“Now I see the scars, which I carefully apply sunscreen to protect, and I smile.”‘
Her daughter Athena is now four months old and she described her as “the love of my life” and “my best medicine”.
“She will be taught that the most important thing in her life is to be healthy, and then from there she can achieve and do whatever she wants,” Menounos said.
“I think my next chapter of my life will be the healthiest because I’ve been forced to re-evaluate my health in such a profound way. “It’s changed the course of everything.”
She is revealing her case as part of Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month in November.
Dr. Julie Fleshman, President of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, said, “We are so grateful to Maria and our other PanCAN Ambassadors for bravely sharing their stories to raise awareness about the importance of early detection for survival.”
“In addition to educating the public about the risks and symptoms of pancreatic cancer, PanCAN will continue to invest significantly in research to find an early detection strategy for this disease.”
Pancreatic cancer causes few symptoms in its early stages because it grows deep in the abdomen – which also makes it difficult to detect.
Triggered symptoms such as stomach pain and intestinal discomfort can also be easily overlooked or attributed to other health problems.