I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m not a fan of E! correspondent Giuliana Rancic. She’s superficial, she can be somewhat petty, and she has serious issues around eating and gaining weight, in that she refused to gain any even when her doctor told her it was medically necessary to realize her dream of becoming a mother.

Giuliana went public with her breast cancer diagnosis last month. Her cancer was discovered early when her doctor insisted she get a mammogram prior to her third round of IVF treatment. She underwent a double lumpectomy and was back to work at E! in about a week. In a new interview with Parade, Giuliana says that she’s happy to continue filming her reality show with her husband, and that she’s also really grateful for her job at E!. I prefaced all this with the fact that I don’t really like her, because after reading this interview I’m coming around. It sounds like this major health scare has changed her outlook:

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.”

On showcasing her life with husband Bill Rancic (an entrepreneur who won the first season of The Apprentice) on their reality show, Giuliana and Bill.
“I guess it all started on our wedding day. The Style Network made a TV special out of the wedding and we actually got used to having the cameras around pretty quickly. People loved that special so much that the network wanted to do a reality series with us.”

She has no regrets about showing the ups and downs of their life together.
“We just felt like with every trial and tribulation we’ve put on this show, people have told us how much they learned from it and how it made them feel less alone. We thought that was a pretty incredible opportunity. The fact that we can help people through our show is an honor. We’re happy to do it and it’s something that we continue to do. We really are like open books. It’s worth it to kind of sacrifice some of my personal life to help others.”

On balancing her busy schedule.
“I think it’s just about appreciating it. Yesterday, I did nine interviews with the London Olympic athletes for E! News and then I had a two-hour meeting after work on a project I’m doing, after that I went to have a drink with my husband and spent a little quality romantic time with him, and then I went to the George Clooney premiere for The Descendants and had some romantic time with him — just kidding! And then I cruised home and spent some time with my mom, who is in town. It seems crazy and it’s a long day and it’s exhausting, but whenever I feel it’s too much, I take a step back and think this is such a great job. I’m so fortunate to have it. I have never taken it for granted. Whenever things get a little too hectic or I feel like I’m going to break down, I just think about how lucky I am. I’m not digging ditches, this is not brain surgery, this is fun and I’m very lucky to have this job.”

[From Parade]

I really like what she said at the end, when she started bitching about her schedule and then checked herself by saying she’s not digging ditches or performing brain surgery. She gained some humility and it sounds like she’s not taking her life for granted now. Of course she went on prior to that about how her reality show, for which she’s being well paid and is even taking paid product endorsements, is some kind of noble endeavor to help couples who also struggle with infertility. Giuliana and Bill even did a commercial for Merck’s “fertility lifelines,” which I’m sure she’d say she did for humanitarian purposes. Still, baby steps. I’m hoping these two realize their dream of getting pregnant soon. They’ve been through a lot together, and Bill consistently comes across as a caring, committed guy.

Giuliana and Bill are shown on 11/19/11 at “The Cotton’s 24-Hour Runway Show,” credit: Fame. They’re also shown on 11/5/11 at a book signing and lighting the Macy’s tree in Chicago. Credit: WENN.com