Sandra Lee, the dermatologist known as Dr Pimple Popper, has revealed she suffered a life-altering stroke last November while filming the second season of her Lifetime series, Dr Pimple Popper: Breaking Out.
The 55-year-old TV star told People magazine that the medical emergency occurred on set. She initially dismissed symptoms such as sweating and feeling unwell as a hot flash. After finishing filming, she drove to her parents' home, where she experienced shooting pains in one leg and difficulty walking down stairs.
The following morning, Lee noticed the left side of her body was incapacitated and she had slurred speech. Her father insisted she go to hospital, where an MRI confirmed she had suffered an ischemic stroke, caused by a clot cutting off blood supply to part of the brain. “I had a part of my brain that died,” she said.
Filming was halted immediately, and Lee spent two months undergoing physical and occupational therapy to regain balance and motor control. She admitted to feeling “a lot of PTSD” since the incident. Lee returned to work in January but still struggles with weakness in her left hand.
Lee first gained fame through viral Instagram videos of blackhead and cyst extractions, leading to the nine-season TLC series Dr Pimple Popper. Her latest show, Dr Pimple Popper: Breaking Out, features self-shot footage of her life outside the clinic. Season two premieres on 20 April on Lifetime.
