A momentous occasion. Giuliana Rancic celebrated five years of being cancer-free with a touching post to Instagram on Sunday, December 18, reflecting on the long journey she has taken.
“‘Everything will be OK in the end. If it’s not OK, it’s not the end.’ Ever since I was diagnosed with breast cancer, this quote has been my mantra. These words have been my anthem, my inspiration, my comfort and my prayer,” the 42-year-old red carpet host wrote alongside a stunning image of her lifting her arms to the sun. “They gave me hope that the emotional and physical struggles that had suddenly consumed my life were NOT my life forever. That this was temporary, and I would pass through this storm and feel the sun on the other side.”
On the Today show back in October 2011, Rancic revealed that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, catching fans off-guard with her announcement. “I have early-stage breast cancer,” she told then–Today host Ann Curry, adding that she found out after her doctor had insisted she get a mammogram before going through a third round of IVF treatment.
“I wasn’t prepared to get a mammogram until I was 40 years old,” she admitted at the time. “I never in my wildest dreams expected anything to be wrong.” The E! star did not have a family history of breast cancer.
The TV host found support in her husband, Bill Rancic, and in April 2012, she told Glamour magazine that the couple talked through the pros and cons of getting a mastectomy, and ultimately decided to have the precautionary surgery. (She had the procedure a few months prior to the interview, in December 2011.)
In her Instagram post Sunday, Rancic acknowledged that her five-year mark was something she had hoped and prayed for back when she was first diagnosed.
“This week, these words are especially meaningful as I celebrate an important milestone — the one I have prayed for every night for one thousand, eight hundred and twenty-seven nights: Five years cancer-free,” she wrote. “Now that I’ve reached this critical milestone, the odds of the breast cancer coming back are not gone but exponentially lower. Breast cancer is more of my history, less of my present, but that doesn’t mean I am leaving this battlefield.”
More recently, Beverly Hills, 90210 alum Shannen Doherty has been documenting her own battle with breast cancer on social media. The 45-year-old actress recently began radiation therapy, but seems to be in good spirits in her posts.