Giuliana Rancic discovered that her life was in danger as she and husband Bill Rancic attempted to expand their family.
“Through my attempt to get pregnant through IVF, we sadly found out that I have early stages of breast cancer,” the E! News and Style Network host, 36, said during an interview on NBC’s “Today” show on Monday morning. “It’s been a shock.”
During Rancic’s third round of in-vitro fertilization treatments, her doctor suggested she have a mammogram, something she was not planning to have for another four years.
“I wasn’t prepared to get a mammogram until I was 40 years old, like I’d been told. I never in my wildest dreams expected anything to be wrong,” she explained.
The TV host said the news came as a complete shock and that no one in her family has a history with breast cancer.
“I went into the hospital in LA, when they came in to tell me, they said it pretty quickly, they just said, ‘I’m sorry, you have breast cancer.’ It’s what you expect, but so much more, it was like, incredible instant sobbing and the world just crashed down around me. I couldn’t believe it – 36 years old, no family history? I couldn’t believe it,” she continued.
Rancic said her prognosis is good and she will have surgery this week and then undergo six weeks of radiation treatments.
By her side during her struggle has been her husband, who she said “been everything.”
“Bill is unbelievable. He lets me cry when I want to cry, he doesn’t say, ‘Hey, look at that person who’s worse off than you are.’ He just lets me feel what I’m feeling,” she said during Monday’s interview. “I think a lot of us think we’re invincible. But we have to start putting ourselves on the to-do list. I just want women out there to know if you can just find it early, you’ll be OK. I found it early.”
The TV personality – who suffered a miscarriage in 2010 – has also vowed to continue her attempts to get pregnant.
“I’m not gonna give up, I want that baby. And what’s amazing is that baby will have saved my life,” she explained. “Now I truly believe that God was looking out for me. Had I gotten pregnant [earlier], a few years down the line I could be a lot sicker.”
On Monday E! also released a statement to Access regarding Rancic.
“On behalf of her E! family we are sending our love and support to Giuliana and applaud her for sharing her recent breast cancer diagnosis in the hope that it will encourage women everywhere to take necessary and preventative measures. Giuliana has chosen to talk about her breast cancer on E! News tonight prior to her lumpectomy later this week. We are grateful that thanks to early detection Giuliana is expected to have a swift and complete recovery,” the statement read.
The Style Network also released a statement, saying, “We are sending our thoughts, love and support to Giuliana, Bill and their families during this difficult time. Giuliana has always shown great strength and courage in sharing her challenges with health issues facing so many women. We are hopeful that with the early detection she will have a complete recovery and that her personal journey will continue to be an inspiration and education for women everywhere.”
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