( CNN ) -- HLN 's Nancy Grace announced on her program Monday night that she had surgery to remove a solid mass that doctors had feared could be cancer . The operation last Tuesday , which Grace said took `` hours and hours , '' revealed that the mass was not malignant , she said . Speaking by phone to substitute host Jean Casarez of In Session , Grace said she is recovering at home with her husband , David , and their 3-year-old twins , John David and Lucy Elizabeth . A nurse administering an ultrasound test to Grace during a routine gynecologist visit discovered the growth , Grace said . Grace had felt no symptoms and scheduled the appointment based on `` a hunch , '' she said . During the ultrasound , the nurse called in the doctor who looked at the results and said he wanted to speak to Grace in his office . `` He was very calm and very honest and he told me they had discovered a mass , '' Grace said . When the doctor said it could be cancer , Grace described it as `` that moment you see in movies and you hear about that always happens to somebody else but not to you . '' Surgery was scheduled for a few days later at Northside Hospital in the Atlanta , Georgia , area . `` It seemed like the world just stopped because you know when you wait a long time for happiness ... it always just feels like it could be taken away , '' she said , referring to her marriage and the birth of her children . `` I think what bothered me most was thinking about watching the twins on the other side of life and seeing them grow up without a mother , '' Grace said . `` And I think about it so many times on our show because we have stories of children who endured so much and do n't have anybody to love them . '' Saying she was `` the lucky one , '' Grace urged women to make appointments for routine exams even if they feel fine . The former Fulton County , Georgia , prosecutor and Court TV host joined the HLN prime-time lineup in February 2005 . Grace said she hopes to return to work next Monday .
An ultrasound test discovered the growth , Grace says . `` It seemed like the world just stopped '' The mass , removed in surgery , proved to be non-malignant , Grace said Monday by phone . She hopes to return to work next week .