Celebrity Diem Brown Opens Up About Her New Cancer Battle The MTV reality star tells PEOPLE about her recent emergency surgery By Michelle Tauber Michelle Tauber Twitter Michelle Tauber is the Editorial Director of Society & Culture at PEOPLE overseeing Parents, Royals, Health, Weddings and Politics. She was previously the Senior Editor of Royals at PEOPLE and PEOPLE's first and only Head Writer. People Editorial Guidelines Published on August 28, 2014 04:55 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: D Dipasupil/FilmMagic As she battled ovarian cancer twice in the past nine years, Diem Brown always held on firmly, and hopefully, to her longtime dream of experiencing pregnancy and childbirth. In 2012, just before having her remaining ovary removed, the MTV reality star even underwent a controversial procedure to freeze her eggs. “I know the risks,” she told PEOPLE at the time. “But for my own sanity, I just want to have something ‘normal’ before going through this cancer journey once again. For me something normal is having my eggs in a freezer somewhere or knowing in my heart I have exhausted every fertility preservation option possible.” Heartbreakingly, Brown, 34, is now facing her third cancer fight – and in emergency surgery on Aug. 17, doctors had to perform a hysterectomy. “When I came to, they told me that they couldn’t save my uterus, she tells PEOPLE from the ICU at a New York City hospital.