Maria Menounos is "so much calmer" after undergoing life-saving surgery to remove a brain tumour.
Maria Menounos
The 39-year-old presenter was found to have a benign tumour the size of a golf ball and had it removed in June, and has said the health scare has forced her to "see things differently", and has helped her see the "positives" in her life.
Asked how her life has changed since her ordeal, Maria said: "I just see things so differently now.
"It's funny. My family was like, 'Maria's so quiet.' And I'm just so much calmer. I think being still is so important -- that's why meditation is so great for people, because it creates a little bit of stillness in their lives.
"For me having so much time and so much stillness, I've been able to look back and everything. And I did see this all as a gift and I did shift everything into positives throughout this whole journey. I think that's really important. We're all going to have really hard times in life. It's how we respond, how we react, how we shift to see the good. Because out of every bad thing, something good comes if you see it -- if you open your mind to it."
Maria also admitted she still struggles with certain tasks such as chewing food, but she feels "so lucky" to be "almost normal".
Speaking on 'The Today Show' in what was her first televised interview since surgery, Maria added: "They're getting better and better. Each week you see differences.
"I still have a hard time chewing on my right side because it was on my right side and it affected the trigeminal nerve, which controls all of your face. And so chewing here, my jaw -- it's not right, now. Little things ... I can get dizzy moving my head from side to side. Sometimes I can look like I've been in a car accident, so I just shift carefully.
"I feel so lucky to be functioning and to be almost normal and to not have cancer."
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