Maria Menounos enjoyed a shopping spree in New York City on Friday, two days after she announced she had survived stage 2 pancreatic cancer while awaiting the birth of her first child by a surrogate.
The entertainment journalist, who previously worked for E! News and Extra, was fresh from her appearance on the Today Show when she was seen stepping out of her hotel and into a black SUV.
Menounos, 44, was chauffeured to Macy’s where she was photographed entering the famous department store with her husband, TV writer Keven Undergaro.
She looked chic in a cream blazer paired with a white tee and ripped jeans. She completed her ensemble with white high-top sneakers, 90s-inspired sunglasses and a black handbag.
Maria Menounos, 44, enjoyed a shopping spree in New York City on Friday, just days after she announced she had survived stage two pancreatic cancer
The entertained journalist looked chic in a cream blazer paired with a white tee and ripped jeans
Menounos completed the look with white high-top sneakers, 90s-inspired sunglasses and a black handbag
Her long, streaked hair was worn loosely around her shoulders and seemed freshly puffed up.
Menounos had a Starbucks coffee and a cellphone in hand as she got into the SUV and was seen on her cellphone while sitting in traffic.
The coming out comes a day after she gave an emotional interview on the Today Show about her secret pancreatic diagnosis.
She explained that last fall she experienced “excruciating abdominal pain” combined with diarrhea. She went to the hospital with her symptoms, but her tests and CT scan showed nothing out of the ordinary.
The pain continued, and a friend who owns a company that offers full-body MRIs suggested she get one. She said the radiologist was almost done with the scan when he saw a mass on her pancreas.
“The crowd stayed in every frame, and he said, ‘You need to go to the hospital right now,'” she recalled. “He’s pale and shaking.
“My eyes started to blur and I just looked at him. I say, “So I’m gone, cool.” I’m kind of quick to joke, but it’s not like a good joke.
“All that kept on my mind was my baby,” she continued, her voice breaking as she held back tears.
Menounos had a Starbucks coffee and a cell phone in hand as she exited her hotel and climbed into a black SUV
Her long, streaked hair was worn loosely around her shoulders and seemed freshly puffed up
Menounos was spotted using her cellphone while sitting in traffic
The mom-to-be and her husband, television writer Keven Undergaro, are expecting their first child via surrogate this summer
“And I was like, ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe this is going to happen to me.’ Because when it’s on your pancreas, you know you’re not going to be fine.
Menounos said she tried to hold it together by focusing on consoling the radiologist “because he was so upset.”
After she underwent further testing, her doctors confirmed there was a mass of concern.
“I remember waking up the next morning and not really crying, but I just started crying because I was like, ‘How could God finally bless me with a baby after 10 years and now I won’t do get to know her?” she said.
“And Keven is devastated, I am devastated, we can’t tell anyone. I can’t tell my father how much more can this man take?’
“The more I thought about it, I thought, This doesn’t make sense, this doesn’t make sense,” she continued.
“And then I realized it doesn’t make any sense, and that’s when I moved and said, ‘I don’t know anything, so why am I going to predict the worst? Why am I going to think the worst?” ‘
The TV personality’s SUV pulled up in front of Macy’s and she got out of the back seat
Fresh from her emotional interview on the Today Show, Menounos went shopping at the famous department store
The actress shook her hair as she soaked up the New York City sunshine
Menounos was accompanied by her husband, who followed her as she entered the store
The reporter was diagnosed with stage 2 pancreatic cancer in January and underwent surgery to remove a 3.9 centimeter (1.5 inch) tumor from her pancreas along with her spleen, a fibroid and 17 lymph nodes.
Luckily, the star’s cancer was caught early enough to keep her from further treatment like chemotherapy or radiation.
Menounos told People this week the health scare sent her into despair and she initially feared she wouldn’t live long enough to meet her baby daughter.
The diagnosis came just before she and Undergaro planned to reveal her pregnancy news, and she said she’s started preparing for the worst.
‘If you get hit with a [potential] Death sentence changes everything,” she explained.
Undergaro helped Menounos overcome her first bout of cancer in 2017 after doctors discovered a benign brain tumor that was later removed. She was also diagnosed with type 1 diabetes last year.
But this time, they were both “really afraid” of the outcome.
Menounos kept her cancer diagnosis and treatment a secret when she announced in February that she and her husband are expecting their first child through a surrogate mother.
Menounos revealed she had been secretly battling pancreatic cancer on Wednesday and appeared on the Today Show to share more details about her diagnosis on Thursday (pictured).
Menounos was diagnosed with stage 2 pancreatic cancer in January and had a 3.9 centimeter mass removed. She is now recovering while awaiting the birth of her daughter
“We are so overwhelmed by all the messages of love and joy that we have received in the last 24 hours. It’s been a long process with many ups and downs along the way,” she wrote, in part, in an Instagram post on Feb. 8.
She shared a photo of them excitedly holding up a baby onesie and a sign that read, “We’re having a baby!”
After her heartbreaking cancer diagnosis, the actress said she sat down with her husband and started listing the wishes she had for their child if she wouldn’t be there to make them happen.
The Massachusetts native admitted that she and Undergaro “talked about everything” and “imagined the worst.”
She said to him, “If something happens, here are the people I want them from and what I want from you. You’ll probably have to move back east to be with my dad for her to have him.
While the news of the cancer diagnosis was devastating, Menounos claims she hasn’t stopped asking “why me?”.
She recalled her father asking that exact question when her late mother was battling brain cancer, which she died of in 2021.
The journalist said she and her husband were “really scared” at first, but three months after the operation, she is in perfect health
The couple announced in February that they are expecting their first child through a surrogate mother
Menounos shared that she has incorporated some of the lessons she learned on her Heal Squad podcast into her everyday life to maintain a healthy mind, body and spirit
‘My father would say, ‘Why us?’ And I’d be like, “Dad, why not us?” she said. “I don’t say ‘why me?’ because I know it’s ‘why everyone?’
After all her fears and ultimate despair, Menounos has replaced those thoughts and feelings with a healthy dose of gratitude after receiving a clean bill of health following surgery.
For the past three months, she has integrated her meditation practice into her daily life, along with everything she has learned from her Heal Squad podcast, to maintain a healthy mind, body and spirit.
“I talk to my pancreas every day, I talk to all my body organs and I say, ‘I really love you. Thanks for handling everything,” she said of one of her new techniques.
The former Access Hollywood correspondent and co-host also enjoys speaking to her unborn child, sending voice recordings to her surrogate who in turn plays them near her stomach.
“I talk to her all the time. She kicks and moves around like crazy every time,” she said. “I’m looking forward to the whole other chapter. I’m excited.’
As part of her recovery, Menounos will need to continue having regular scans of her pancreas for the next five years.
The couple’s daughter is due to arrive in the summer.