E! News host and reality TV star Giuliana Rancic will undergo a double mastectomy in her battle against breast cancer, she announced on NBC’s Today show on Monday. Rancic said her decision to have the double mastectomy came down to “choosing to live and not looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life.”
Rancic, who was supported in her appearance on the Today show by her husband Bill Rancic, said her previous double lumpectomy in October was not successful in entirely clearing the breast cancer from her body. The couple said they had consulted multiple experts and researched heavily into the best options for Rancic’s treatment going forward.
Bill Rancic, winner of season one of The Apprentice,  told the Today show’s Ann Curry that one of the biggest factors that played into the mastectomy decision was quality of life. “If she would have gone with the lumpectomy and the radiation,” he said, “then you have to go in every six months for the rest of your life getting mammograms.” He added that his wife would become very stressed before having mammograms and then have to worry constantly while waiting for the results.
Giuliana Rancic said the couple’s desire to start a family did also play into their decision to go forward with the double mastectomy. “That was actually a big part of it, not all of it, but a big part. If I had chosen to just do another lumpectomy and then do radiation and then do anti-estrogen therapy — which means 2-5 years of medication — that basically puts me into early menopause and I would have to put off having a baby for several years,” she said. Rancic was diagnosed with breast cancer while she was in the process of trying to get pregnant.
“In the end, Bill said to me — I think this definitely got to me — Bill said to me, ‘I just need you around for the next 50 years, kid.’ That’s what he said. He said, ‘I dont’ care what you look like. I don’t care about the physical portion of this. I just need you around for the next 50 years, so let’s just get you healthy.”