Giuliana Rancic: Double Mastectomy Was 'Hell'
Giuliana Rancic is opening up about her double mastectomy and says her recovery is going well despite the procedure itself being a "horrible" experience.
"I feel great," Giuliana told the Today show's Matt Lauer on Friday. "I've got to be honest. I feel great considering it has only been about two-and-a-half weeks. But I still have a ways to go as far as the recovery."
Giuliana appeared on Today with her husband Bill Rancic, who said his wife tried to remain positive going into the surgery and was even joking with hospital staffers right before the procedure. "They'd given her something to relax her. So she was cracking jokes as they were wheeling her away. I've never seen anything like it. She was in pretty good spirits," Bill explained.
MORE: Giuliana Rancic Talks About Her Cancer Recovery
But Giuliana made it clear she doesn't want to diminish the seriousness of having a double mastectomy. "It was definitely hard. I knew this was going to be a tough surgery. I in no way want to minimize it," she said. "Yes, I'm two and a half weeks out, (but) my gosh -- up until a week and a half ago, it was hell. It was horrible."
After the surgery, the E! News host host had to deal with post-surgical pain as well as sickness brought on by the painkillers. Bill explained that doctors gave him strict orders to make sure Giuliana made early progress by getting out of bed and moving around. "We just did it slowly. She was not happy with me, but we did it," Bill recalled. "As soon as she got up and started taking her first couple of steps, she was walking around the hallways of the hospital."
Giuliana has said she's been so public about her breast cancer diagnosis and surgery in a bid to give encouragement to other sufferers and to prompt women to get mammograms to detect the disease early.