Giuliana Rancic Opens Up About Breast Cancer Battle: "I Was Very Fortunate," Husband Bill "Was Everything"

E! News host and mother of 1-year-old Duke is now cancer free, but tells CBS News "it's pretty much blood work every four months and they test everything to make sure I'm OK"

Giuliana Rancic: Wife, mom, TV star and one heck of a fighter.

And, she admits, very lucky to have battled breast cancer and come out cancer-free on the other side following treatment that included a double lumpectomy. She ultimately opted to undergo a double mastectomy as well.

"I was very fortunate," the E! News cohost and star of Giuliana & Bill told CBS News this morning. "Because I've gone public with the breast cancer, I hear a lot of stories and some are not as great as others. Whether it's resulting in complications from surgery...whatever the case, I hear it all. And I realize how fortunate I am...to have just kind of gotten out of there OK, because it is such a major surgery."

Now, two years after she was first diagnosed, "it's pretty much blood work every four months and they test everything to make sure I'm OK—and so far, so good," she said. "That's really the monitoring I do. It's just regular doctors' appointments to make sure everything is OK."

Giuliana, who welcomed son Edward Duke via gestational carrier on Aug. 29, 2012, said that husband Bill Rancic played an irreplaceable role in her recovery.

"Bill was everything," she said. "My husband was everything throughout the process—from getting diagnosed till today. And I don't know how I would have done it without him, I really don't.

"I always say not everyone has that support system. I can't even imagine having gone through breast cancer without having an incredible person by my side to help me through it."

The Fashion Police cohost also gave a shout-out to the restorative properties of hair and makeup, too.

Noting how she returned to work just weeks after her double mastectomy, she acknowledged that "the makeup played a big part, getting my hair done...a pretty dress played a big part.

"But when I went home at night I was recovering, and it was a big deal what I was going through. The surgery is a major surgery," she said.

"Listen, if you have breast cancer, it runs in your family or you have the gene and maybe you are thinking of having the surgery, talk to your doctor," Giuliana continued, stressing the importance of having all the facts before making such a critical decision.

"Maybe it actually might make sense for you. But there are a lot of scenarios where a mastectomy would not make sense. So you have to make sure you're going to a good doctor, getting a second opinion, which was a big deal in my case, and just that you know what you're getting yourself into. It's not a glamorous surgery by any means."