Maria Menounos is urging the public not to dismiss symptoms as merely 'work stress' as she did prior to her brain tumor diagnosis.
The 40-year-old Sirius XM host revealed in July 2017 that she had a mass the size of a golf ball and that she'd undergone surgery to remove it.
In a recent appearance on Fox News Radio, Menounos said she was experiencing symptoms like headaches and blurry vision, but she brushed them aside - particularly because she was channeling all her energy into caring for her mother, who had stage 4 brain cancer.
'I wasn't listening to my body. Any time my body would scream and make noises, I'd be like: "Shut up body, I'm busy",' she told Brian Kilmeade.
'I was getting headaches, my vision was going a little blurry...But I swear, God made these things happen loudly so that I would see what was happening.'
Maria Menounos, 40, opened up about learning she had a brain tumor while her mother was battling stage four brain cancer on Fox News Radio with Brian Kilmeade
The 40-year-old Sirius XM host revealed in July 2017 she had a tumor the size of a golf-ball and that she's undergone surgery to remove it. But she admitted that ignored symptoms like headaches and blurry vision because she was so busy. Pictured, left and right: Menounos on Fox News Radio
Menounos told Fox News Radio that she had so many responsibilities that she didn't have time to get herself checked out.
'I was doing a million things...and then on top of it, I'm a female so my hair has to be perfect, and my nails have to be perfect, and I have to send the flowers, and I got to plan the vacations and I got to do everything as all women who are listening to this know,' she said.
Menounos said she went to a doctor at UCLA Medical Center in February 2017 and told him that, because she was experiencing ear pain, she thought she had a ear infection.
Not convinced, he asked her if she had any other symptoms.
'As I listed the symptoms, I said: "Oh my God, I think I have a brain tumor like my mom, but I know you are going to think I'm crazy",' she said.
'And he goes: "No, let's get an MRI and get it checked." And then, lo and behold, I had it.'
Menounos, a former host of E! News, was diagnosed with meningioma, which is a tumor of the meninges, which is the tissue that surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
However, it is classified as a brain tumor because it puts pressure on cranial nerves. The tumor generally forms in the head and about 85 percent of cases are benign.
Because the tumors are slow-growing, a patient can live with a
