There was nothing funny about Chelsea Handler’s recent health scare.
As part of her E! News digital cover story in April, the comedian, 47, exclusively revealed that she was hospitalized after performing on the Seattle, Wash., stop of her Vaccinated and Horny Tour.
While there, the “Chelsea” host discovered that she had developed “cardiomyopathy,” which she likened to “an adrenaline shot to the heart.”
She shared, “It’s basically like you bruised your heart in an instant moment of too much adrenaline.”
The actress was immediately confounded by the cause of the ailment and asked her doctor at the time if it was “instant” or had been slowly “building” over a longer period of time.
“And he says, ‘Well, it’s an instance, but you’ve basically been very stressed for a long period of time and you probably did not recognize that,'” Handler recalled. “And I was like, ‘Oh, s–t.'”
As it turns out, she wasn’t the only person in the room surprised by the diagnosis.
Chelsea Handler’s E! Photo Shoot
According to Handler, her doctor shared that while he didn’t “know a lot about” her, he knew that being constantly stressed was the opposite of the coy, easy-going attitude that the multi-hyphenate typically displayed in her various film, television and comedic pursuits.
In fact, the actress said that her doctor remarked, “Isn’t your whole schtick that you don’t take yourself too seriously?”
When Handler agreed with him, he added, “Well, then you should start taking your own advice, because you’re taking yourself too seriously.”
The doctor’s words caused the comedian — who is set to perform at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles on May 5 as part of the Netflix Is a Joke Festival — to reflect on how she approaches her mental and physical health.
“And I thought, ‘God, you’re right. What am I doing here? I’m stressed out so much that I landed in the hospital?'” she said. “I mean I’m fine now. Everything’s healed and I’m all set. But I was like, ‘Oh, good advice: Practice what you preach.'”
