We’re not crying, you’re crying — all because Medford’s own Maria Menounos let her guard down and started sobbing on social media as she shared what it’s really been like taking care of her parents, especially her mother.
“So I just said goodbye to my parents,” she began an Instagram story. “They’re heading back to Connecticut. They’ve been here for a couple months.”
“I know Instagram isn’t the place to show anything that’s not happy and positive,” she said. “But for anyone out there who’s a caretaker, you know how hard it is to take care of people.”
Menounos, whose mom Litsa has been battling stage IV brain cancer since 2016, explained that during their stay, she was focused on helping her mother take control of her health by getting her into physical and occupational therapy, adjusting her diet and having her be active every day. The media personality showed her human side, choking up as she explained, “It was a lot on me, too. … I’ve been so exhausted, but I’m also so sad when they leave.”
The former E! anchor, who had a health scare of her own when she was diagnosed with a benign meningioma in 2017, added that she’s previously had to worry about her dad, Costas, as he deals with diabetes. But now, the added pressure of looking out for her mother seems to be weighing on her.
Amid her weeps, Menounos said: “It’s a lot of work, and I have help and I have resources that other people don’t have. And it’s just really hard. There’s so much guilt when you’re mad or you’re stressed and you can’t handle it. And then they leave, and I worry about them. I love them so much and just want them to be happy and healthy. It’s just a lot.”
It looks like her mother’s ongoing condition strikes a nerve for Menounos, and rightfully so. Although she said Litsa has started a regimen of Adderall to improve her cognitive abilities, her cerebral function has still taken a hit from treatment.
“My mom is a miracle,” she said. “She has no pain, she’s doing amazing, the tumor has shrunk almost to nothing.
“But cognitively, she has a lot of damage. I think that’s why I’m so emotional, too. She’s not my mom anymore and I don’t know how else to explain that. Sometimes she doesn’t know what’s going on, she can’t remember things, she’ll do crazy things sometimes.”