TV personality Giuliana Rancic shocked fans in October when she revealed that she is in the early stages of battling breast cancer after learning of her diagnosis while going through the preparation for IVF treatment in August.
She amazingly returned to work less than a week after undergoing a double lumpectomy. Rancic, 37, talked to Parade.com about her decision to open up about her private struggle and why she’s thankful to her fans for their support.
Here are some highlights from the Parade.com interview…
On the feedback she received after revealing her breast cancer diagnosis…
“When I went public, I thought, ‘OK, I guess a couple of people are going to talk about this,’ but I couldn’t believe it. The outpouring and the love and support was just beyond anything I could have ever imagined. I really relied on a lot of those messages I was receiving through Twitter and email and through blogs right before the surgery and the week I was recovering. I know it sounds so cliché, but I think it helped me recover quicker and it got me in better spirits. The word I kept seeing over and over again was ‘strong.’ ‘Be strong, you’re strong.’ That word has never meant so much to me as it has this past month. I owe that all to the people behind me.”
On how she’s doing post-surgery…
“I’m good. I’m hanging in there. I have good days and bad days, but so far so good. I’m very optimistic and I’m just happy to have caught it early. I think that’s really the most important thing. Early detection means so much. I want women to make sure they’re taking care of their health and being proactive.”
She also received a lot of support from E! News co-anchor Ryan Seacrest…
“He’s great. I describe our relationships as like a brother-sister relationship. We pick on each other, he probably picks on me much more than I pick on him, but it’s like a brother would. We have a great time. He’s been great to work with all these years. I love working with him.”
Find out more from Giuliana, including how she balances her busy schedule here at Parade.com:
http://www.parade.com/celebrity/celebrity-parade/2011/11/giuliana-rancic.html