Phoebe Tonks
Sandra Lee, better known to fans as Dr. Pimple Popper, has opened up about the terrifying reality of suffering a stroke four months ago and the lasting impact it has had on her life.
The 55-year-old dermatologist recalled feeling ‘unsteady’ on her feet while filming her show in the run up to the emergency room visit, as she opened up about her ordeal on Today With Jenna & Sheinelle on Wednesday (15 April).
“At the end of the day I was feeling crabby, as I usually am because it’s a long day [of shooting], but I was having trouble swallowing,” Lee recalled of the ordeal, which happened in November last year.
“I had a very restless night, and I got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and I felt like I was unsteady but… I was just trying to sleep, because I knew the next day I had to work, right?”
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After her symptoms continued into the next morning, Lee conducted a mini neurological exam on herself which involved holding both arms in front of her.
One arm remained still, yet the other ‘crumbled’, indicating a clear red flag that something wasn’t right.
“It wasn’t huge,” she noted, “but it was something.”
Worried about what this could mean, Lee reached out to both of her parents, who themselves are doctors, and was immediately told to go to the Emergency Room.
“As soon as I told them, I’m noticing weakness and I’m stumbling and my voice is a little bit… I was dysarthric, which means you have a tough time enunciating. They just swept me right in,” she said.
“It’s like stroke protocol. I was talking to them, and as I was speaking to them, they wheeled in a wheelchair and just took me back.”
Reflecting on the experience, Lee reiterated the importance of knowing the signs of a stroke and acting quickly if you suspect you or a loved one may be suffering from one.
This is particularly crucial if it ends up being an ischemic stroke, like the one she suffered, as they can be treated if acted upon quickly enough to avoid any lasting damage.
“Even as a doctor, I could recognize these things, but as a woman, being young, you think it’s not gonna happen to you,” she said.
“It was at nighttime for me. Like, I tried to sleep on it, and so I think I missed that window, and that really is key.”
Following her stroke Lee immediately paused filming on her series Dr. Pimple Popper: Breaking Out and spent the rest of the year in recovery.
"I don’t like that I don’t have total control of my left hand or the grip wasn’t as strong,” she told PEOPLE.
“If I feel like I’m not at my best, it’s very scary.”
She has spent the past few months undergoing physical and occupational therapy in order to restore her balance and movement.