Rachael Ray has found herself in the middle of a throat cancer scare after doctors found an abnormal growth near her larynx late last month.

Although preliminary tests have found the growth to be benign, the Emmy-winning domestic goddess, a former chain smoker, must undergo surgery to have the lump removed, the National Enquirer reports. The procedure will leave the chatty culinary expert without her voice for approximately two months, tabloid insiders says.

“Rachael’s first thoughts were she had throat cancer….She thought she was going to die!”

“Doctors told her they plan to remove the growth,” an Enquirer spy blabs, “And she will not be able to speak for up to two months.”

Rachael is presently taping a “marathon” of segments that will air on her hit daytime series, The Rachael Ray Show, while she recuperates from surgery.