Stress Almost Killed Chelsea Handler! LITERALLY!

Oh, no! Chelsea Handler is revealing a super scary health issue she suffered earlier this year!

In her new E! News cover story, the comedian opened up about a hospitalization that caused her to cancel several shows of her Vaccinated & Horny comedy tour in February — and the reason is more shocking than you might expect!

According to the 47-year-old, she nearly died because of stress! For real! When she landed in the hospital, she discovered that she had developed cardiomyopathy! According to the American Heart Association, cardiomyopathy is a form of heart disease that affects the heart muscle and makes it hard to pump blood throughout the body. Serious stuff.

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Discussing how someone can develop the disease, Chelsea explained it can happen all too quickly:

“It’s basically like you bruised your heart in an instant moment of too much adrenaline.”

In an instant moment?! Wow!

She was similarly shocked by that revelation, so she asked her doctor to confirm whether or not she had done all that damage in one “instant” versus over a length of time. She explained:

“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. And I was like, ‘Oh, s**t.'”

Funny enough, her doctor was just as shocked as she was by the stress-induced injury given her easy-going personality on screen. The Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea author recalled him asking:

“Isn’t your whole schtick that you don’t take yourself too seriously?”

After Chelsea — who has seemed particularly happy since starting a relationship with old friend Jo Koy agreed, he added:

“‘Well, then you should start taking your own advice, because you’re taking yourself too seriously.'”

That was a lesson she needed to learn, the stand-up star continued:

“And I thought, ‘God, you’re right. What am I doing here? I’m stressed out so much that I landed in the hospital?’ 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.’ It was a good reminder to let everything go.”

What an intense way to realize that!

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Thankfully, Chelsea is doing so much better these days! After announcing her hospitalization and postponing several dates of her comedy tour, the Chelsea Lately alum reassured fans that she was on the mend, saying:

“OK, everybody, I’m safe and sound. Everything’s OK. I’m just gonna chill out for a couple weeks to recover.”

She was also overwhelmed by the outpouring of support sent her way, concluding:

“Also I’m going through all my DMs, well trying to, and thank you for all the love you guys. It’s so sweet. Everyone’s so sweet. Thank you for caring so much about my wellbeing.”

It’s safe to say Chelsea is going to be taking herself WAY less seriously these days because, apparently, that’s what keeps her out of the doctor’s office! We couldn’t be happier that she managed to get medical help and prioritized her rest before things got even worse. Reactions, Perezcious readers? Let us know (below)!

[Image via The Late Late Show/Youtube & Chelsea Handler/Instagram]

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