‘Dr. Pimple Popper’ reveals she had a stroke while filming new season of her show, reports say
(Gray News) – The dermatologist and “Dr. Pimple Popper” star revealed she suffered a stroke while filming the show.
Dr. Sandra Lee arrives at a special screening of “Introducing, Selma Blair” on Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021, at the DGA Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Dr. Sandra Lee, also known as “Dr. Pimple Popper,” told People that she felt sick while treating patients at her California practice last November, but she initially brushed it off.
“It happened while I was filming the show,” Lee recalled in an interview with People magazine. “I had what I thought was a hot flash. I got super sweaty and didn’t feel like myself.”
After work, she went to her parents’ house, where she continued to feel “very restless” and described experiencing “shooting pains” in one leg.
She tried to sleep but wasn’t able to. When she got up to grab something to eat, Lee noticed she was struggling to walk down the stairs.
By the next morning, her symptoms were hard to ignore.
“I would hold my hand out, and it would just slowly collapse,” she explained. “I noticed that I had a tough time articulating and just enunciating. I thought, ‘Am I having a stroke?’”
It turned out she was having a stroke. She suffered an ischemic stroke, which occurs when blood vessels supplying blood to the brain are blocked.
“It was just a shock,” Lee said. “As a physician, I couldn’t deny that I had slurred speech, that I was having weakness on one side, but I was like, ‘Well, this is a dream, right?’”
“What essentially happened is I had a part of my brain that died.”
Lee stopped filming and entered a two-month recovery period during which she underwent physical and occupational therapy for very basic things, including balance and movement.
“I don’t like that I don’t have total control of my left hand or the grip wasn’t as strong,” she told the outlet. “If I feel like I’m not at my best – it’s very scary.”
Beyond the immediate recovery, Lee said the experience served as a wake-up call about her overall health.
“My blood pressure and my cholesterol were not under control, and I have a lot of stress in my life, dealing with my patients and the show,” Lee explained. “I want to think about it as a blessing in disguise. Because it reminds you to take better care of yourself.”
Lee returned to work in January as “Dr. Pimple Popper” resumed filming.
“It was very scary for me,” she said. “There’s a lot of PTSD because it happened while I was filming the show.”
Lee said the experience left a lasting impact and a desire to use her platform to help others.
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