>>> WE'RE BACK. IT'S 8:16 WITH A "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE AND "TODAY" EXCLUSIVE. LONGTIME ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST MARIA MENOUNOS SHARING YET ANOTHER TROUBLING HEALTH CHALLENGE. AFTER A CAREER OF COVERING GLITZ AND GLAMOUR IN HOLLYWOOD, INCLUDING RIGHT HERE AT "TODAY" AND A SHINING MOMENT ON "DANCING WITH THE STARS" BACK IN 2017, MARIA WAS SHOCKED TO DISCOVER SHE HAD A BENIGN BRAIN TUMOR. SHE HAD IT REMOVED WHILE HER OWN MOTHER WAS FIGHTING BRAIN CANCER. FAST FORWARD TO THIS YEAR, MARIA GOT MORE DEVASTATING NEWS. SHE HAD STAGE II PANCREATIC CANCER. NOW AFTER SHE SAYS GOD GRANTED HER A MIRACLE AND POST-SURGE, SHE IS HAPPY TO REPORT, SHE IS CANCER FREE AND ABOUT TO BECOME A MOM FOR THE FIRST TIME! MARIA, FIRST OF ALL, I'M SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU, GLOWING. I KNOW THAT YOU CAN TELL WHEN SOMEONE'S HEALING BY WHAT THEY'RE GIVING OFF. LET'S GO BACK TO THE PRE-PANCREATIC CANCER DIAGNOSIS. WAS THERE SOMETHING THAT YOU WERE FEELING THAT TOLD YOU YOUR BODY WAS OFF? >> YEAH, LISTEN, LAST JUNE, I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH TYPE I DIABETES. AND I WAS LIKE, I DON'T HAVE THIS. THERE'S NO WAY I HAVE THIS. AND THEN I HAD THIS. AND SO I HAD TO DEAL WITH IT. AND I DEALT WITH IT QUIETLY. I WAS IN SUCH SHOCK. I WAS MORE DEVASTATED BY THAT, BECAUSE I HAD WATCHED MY DAD ALMOST DIE ON THE REGULAR EVERY DAY OF LOW BLOOD SUGAR ATTACKS. I JUST THOUGHT, HOW AM I GOING TO LIVE? MY POOR HUSBAND IS GOING TO HAVE TO BE BY MY SIDE WATCHING ME ALL THE TIME. SO I WENT THROUGH WITH MY DAD, HE KNEW HOW TO HELP ME. WE HAD THE WHOLE SUMMER IN CONNECTICUT, I GOT USED TO IT. AND THEN AT SOME POINT IN THE FALL, I REMEMBER BEING ON A PLANE AND I HAD EATING FARROW SALAD AND I HAD THIS EXCRUCIATING PAIN. IT WAS REALLY, REALLY PAINFUL. I DIDN'T THINK I WAS GOING TO MAKE IT THROUGH THE FLIGHT. AND I THOUGHT THE FARROW AGGRAVATED ME, MAYBE I'M GETTING GLUTEN INTOLERANT, I DON'T KNOW. BUT IN NOVEMBER, I HAD EXCRUCIATING ABDOMINAL PAIN AGAIN, COUPLED WITH, TMI, SORRY, FRIENDS, SHOULD WE SAY LOOSE STOOL FOR A MONTH ABOUT. AND I DID ALL THE PROPER THINGS, ALL THE STOOL TESTS, WENT TO THE HOSPITAL, THEY DID A CAT SCAN, EVERYTHING WAS UNREMARKABLE. >> NORMAL, RIGHT. >> AND ANYTIME I COMPLAINED ABOUT IT THEREAFTER, THEY WERE LIKE, WELL, WE JUST SCANNED AND EVERYTHING WAS FINE. BUT I KEPT FEELING OVER HERE, MY UPPER LEFT QUADRANT, THIS THROBBING. >> SOMETHING WAS BOTHERING YOU. >> SOMETHING WAS WRONG. SO I STARTED LOOKING INTO THERMOGRAPHY. I WAS TRYING TO INVESTIGATE, HOW DO I FIND OUT WHAT THIS IS. AND I WOULD ASK EVERYBODY, WHAT COULD THIS BE? WHAT COULD THIS BE? AND I DON'T THINK IT'S EASY FOR ANYONE TO LOOK AT SOMEONE LIKE ME AND THINK, IT'S PANCREATIC CANCER, JUST LIKE NO ONE WOULD HAVE THOUGHT IT WAS A BRAIN CANCER. IT WASN'T UNTIL I WENT TO ANASTASIA'S HOUSE FOR HER BIRTHDAY AND THIS WOMAN CAME UP TO ME AND SHE SAID, WE HAVE THIS NEW FACILITY IN L.A. AND I NEED YOU TO COME. YOU HAVE TO COME GET AN MRI. >> LIKE A FULL-BODY MRI. >> SHE WAS GRABBING ME BY THE SHOULDERS AND SHE WAS AGGRESSIVE. AND SHE SAID, OKAY. AND SHE WAS LIKE, I'VE BEEN TRYING TO REACH OUT TO YOUR PRODUCERS AND THEY HAVEN'T GOTTEN BACK TO ME. AND THEY'RE TRYING TO GET HEALTH INFLUENCERS AROUND THIS PRODUCT. I WAS LIKE, OKAY. SO I SCHEDULED IT IN JANUARY AND THAT'S WHEN I FOUND OUT. >> SO YOU DID A FULL-BODY SCAN, AN MRI SCAN THAT THE OTHER SCANS DIDN'T PICK UP AND YOU FOUND OUT YOU HAD PANCREATIC CANCER. >> WELL, NOW I KNOW THAT YOUR SCANS DO WHAT? AN MRI IS DIFFERENT THAN A CAT SCAN, DIFFERENT AN AN ULTRASOUND. AND SOME ARE BETTER. >> AN MRI ARE BETTER. WHEN YOU HEAR PANCREATIC CANCER, EVERYBODY FREAKS OUT. THAT'S THE ILLNESS THAT IS THE WORST ONE TO GET. SO YOU MUST HAVE BEEN DEVASTATED. BUT AS YOU SIT HERE, YOU'RE CANCER FREE. WHAT HAPPENED? >> I'LL TELL YOU, WHEN WE WERE IN PERNUVO'S OFFICES AND THE GUY WAS GOING THROUGH THE WHOLE -- THE RADIOLOGIST WAS GOING THROUGH THE WHOLE SCAN OF THE BODY, WE'RE GETTING CLOSER TO THE END, AND I'M LIKE, I'M STARTING TO FEEL RELIEVED, WE'RE GETTING THERE, WE'RE GETTING THERE, AND HE'S LIKE, OH, AND HE SAID, YOU NEED TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL RIGHT AWAY. HE'S WHITE AS A GHOST AND SHAKING. AND MY EYES STARTED TO WELL AND I LOOKED AT HIM AND I GO, I'M A GONER, COOL. LIKE I JUST KIND OF GO TO JOKES FAST, BUT IT WAS LIKE NOT A GOOD JOKE. AND ALL THAT KEPT FLASHING THROUGH MY HEAD WAS MY BABY. 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, LIKE, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BE OKAY. AND SO, I JUST LIKE HELD IT TOGETHER. I FOCUSED ON CONSOLING HIM, BECAUSE HE WAS SO UPSET. AND I SAID, NO, THANK YOU FOR TELLING ME. AND I TEXTED DR. AARON IN MY PRIMARY CARE AND I SAID, I NEED TO COME RIGHT AWAY, CAN YOU GET ME IN. HE GOT ME IN FOR AN MRI, AND HE WAS JOKING, HE SAID, I HOPE THIS WAS THE STUPIDEST RADIOLOGIST WE'VE EVER MET, THIS WOULD BE THE CRUELEST JOKE EVER. AND WE GOT CONFIRMATION AFTER THAT MRI THAT THERE WAS A MASS. AND EVEN WHEN I WENT IN FOR THE BIOPSY, THE DOCTOR WAS LIKE, THIS IS NOTHING, IT'S JUST INFLAMMATION, MAYBE PANCREATITIS, BUT THIS DOCTOR OVER HERE KEPT BUSTING MY CHOPS TO GET YOU IN, MY PRIMARY. HE'S LIKE, SO, WE'RE GOING TO DO THIS. AND WHEN HE CAME OUT, HE GOES, OH, THIS IS DEFINITELY SOMETHING. AND SO I REMEMBER WAKING UP THE NEXT MORNING AND I HADN'T REALLY CRIED, BUT I JUST STARTED LIKE GUTTURAL CRYING, BECAUSE I'M LIKE, HOW COULD GOD FINALLY BLESS ME WITH A BABY AFTER TEN YEARS AND NOW I'M NOT GOING TO MEET HER. AND SO, KEVIN'S DEVASTATED, I'M DEVASTATED, WE CAN'T TELL ANYBODY, I CAN'T TELL MY DAD, HOW MUCH MORE COULD THAT MAN TAKE. AND THEN THE MORE I THOUGHT ABOUT IT, I WAS LIKE, THIS DOESN'T MAKE SENSE, THIS DOESN'T MAKE SENSE. AND THEN I REALIZED, IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE. AND THAT'S WHEN I SHIFTED AND SAID, I DON'T WANT KNOW ANYTHING. SO WHY AM I GOING TO PREDICT THE WORST. WHY AM I GOING TO BE THINKING THE WORST. AND SO, I SAID, WE HAVE TO TAKE THIS STEP BY STEP. SO WE STARTED TO CALM DOWN. IT WAS GOOD TO LIKE RELEASE EVERYTHING, OF COURSE. AND THEN CAME THE TIME TO GO AND ANNOUNCE THE BABY. AND AS I WAS DRIVING TO THE AIRPORT, I HAD SO MUCH FUN THAT I TURNED AROUND. AND I SAID, I CAN'T DO THIS. AND I TOLD THE FOLKS AT LIVE WITH KELLY, I SAID, I'M NOT REALLY FEELING WELL, LET'S SEE HOW IT GOES. STARTED TO FEEL BETTER SUNDAY NIGHT, AND I SAID, WE'VE GOT TO SHIFT THIS ENERGY. WE HAVE TO BE EXCITED FOR THIS BABY. >> WELL, YOU GOT THE SURGERY, THEY REMOVED A PART OF YOUR PANCREAS, PART OF YOUR SPLEEN -- >> THE WHOLE SPLEEN! >> THEY TOOK THE TAIL OF THE PANCREAS, THE SPLEEN, 17 LYMPH NODES AND A FIBROID THE SIZE OF A BABY. >> YOU ARE CANCER FREE AND NOW THIS MOMENT HAS COME. YOU SAID, HOW COULD ALL OF THESE TERRIBLE THINGS HAVE HAPPENED TO ME. HOW DO YOU FEEL AT THIS MOMENT? YOU'RE SITTING HERE, YOU ARE, TO ME, RIGHT NOW, THE PICTURE OF HEALTH. A BABY ON THE WAY. I MEAN, WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT HOW YOUR LIFE HAS TURNED? >> I FEEL SO BLESSED AND SO GRATEFUL. BECAUSE, I'VE BEEN GIVEN SO MANY MIRACLES. LIKE, I'M SO, SO BLESSED. AND I KNOW THAT OTHER PEOPLE CAN BE, TOO. AND SO MY MISSION IS TO HELP PEOPLE LISTEN TO THEIR BODIES AND LEARN HOW TO LISTEN TO THEIR BODIES. AND I'M SO GRATEFUL THAT GOD SHIFTED ME INTO THIS HEALTH SPACE WITH MY SHOW AND WITH EVERYTHING THAT I DO NOW, BECAUSE I WANT TO SOUND THE ALARMS TO EVERYBODY THAT YOU HAVE TO BE THE CEO OF YOUR HEALTH. YOU CANNOT GIVE THAT OVER TO ANYBODY. THAT JOB IS YOURS. YOU KNOW YOUR BODY, YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON. SO I'M GRATEFUL THAT I'M IN THIS POSITION, AND I KNOW GOD MADE THIS ALL HAPPEN FOR ME, TO BE ABLE TO HELP OTHER PEOPLE. AND I'M SO LUCKY THAT I'M GOING TO BE ABLE TO HOLD MY BABY THIS SUMMER. THAT'S THE BEST BLESSING OF ALL. >> WE LOVE YOU, YOU'RE ON A MISSION. WE CAN'T WAIT TO MEET YOUR
