FILE - Dr. Sandra Lee attends VIP Advanced Screening Of Lifetimes' "Dr Pimple Popper: Breaking Out" at TCL Chinese Theatre on April 10, 2025 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kayla Oaddams/Getty Images)
Dr. Pimple Popper, Sandra Lee, shared this week that she recently had a stroke while treating a patient and filming her popular reality TV show.
The 55-year-old dermatologist spoke exclusively to People Magazine about her health ahead of her new season.
Dr. Pimple Popper stroke
What they're saying:
"It happened while I was filming the show (in November)," Lee told People. "I had what I thought was a hot flash. I got super sweaty and didn’t feel like myself."
She added that she felt restless, felt shooting pains in one of her legs, couldn’t sleep and was having trouble walking down stairs.
The next morning, she said she knew something was seriously wrong with the left side of her body.
"I would hold my hand out, and it would just slowly collapse. I noticed that I had a tough time articulating and just enunciating. I thought, ‘Am I having a stroke?’"
Big picture view:
Lee went to the emergency room, and she said an MRI revealed she had an ischemic stroke.
What is an ischemic stroke?
Big picture view:
An ischemic stroke occurs when a vessel supplying blood to the brain is obstructed.
By the numbers:
The American Stroke Association says this is the most common type of stroke, accounting for about 87% of all strokes.
Dig deeper:
Strokes are the number four cause of death in the U.S., according to the association, killing more than 165,000 people per year.
What you can do:
Think of the ways to spot a stroke F.A.S.T.:
- F: Face drooping
- A: Arm weakness
- S: Speech difficulty
- T: Time to call 911
Call 911 immediately if a person shows any of these symptoms, even if they go away.
Lifetime show
Meanwhile:
After learning she had a stroke, Lee said she immediately stopped filming and spent the next two months recovering.
She told People she has reflected on the factors that led to her stroke.
"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," says Lee, who’s also gained perspective. "I want to think about it as a blessing in disguise. Because it reminds you to take better care of yourself."
"It was just a shock," she added. "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?’ " More like a living nightmare: "What essentially happened," she adds, "is I had a part of my brain that died."
Dig deeper:
Her show follows her work as a dermatologist extracting cysts, blackheads and lipomas, which Lee discovered provided a sort of calming relief to some who watched her early videos on social media.
What's next:
Lee returned to filming in January, and the next season of "Dr. Pimple Popper" premieres on Lifetime on April 20.
And Lee said she’s feeling "pretty much back to normal."
The Source: Information in this article was taken from a People Magazine interview with Dr. Sandra Lee and the American Stroke Association. This story was reported from Detroit.