Dr. Pimple Popper, Sandra Lee, Reveals She Suffered a Stroke

Dr. Sandra Lee, aka Dr. Pimple Popper, is revealing that she suffered a stroke in November.

The 55-year-old dermatologist was in the middle of filming for her series, Dr. Pimple Popper: Breaking Out, when she noticed something didn’t feel right.

“I notice it right now that I don’t speak exactly the way I used to. You’re really embarrassed to speak because you notice it,” she explained to People.

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“It is very stressful to open yourself up. Especially as a surgeon, you always want to show yourself coming from an area of strength.”

“It happened while I was filming the show. I had what I thought was a hot flash. I got super sweaty and didn’t feel like myself,” she shared.

“I just felt very restless. In one leg I kept feeling shooting pains. I noticed that I was having a tough time walking down the stairs,” she continued.

The next day, she had the realization: “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?’ ”

About getting the diagnosis, she said, “It was just a shock. 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,” she added. She was diagnosed with an ischemic stroke at the ER.

About how she’s doing today: “I don’t like that I don’t have total control of my left hand or the grip wasn’t as strong. If I feel like I’m not at my best—it’s very scary.”

And about why she had the stroke, she explained: “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. I want to think about it as a blessing in disguise. Because it reminds you to take better care of yourself.”

Dr. Pimple Popper: Breaking Out premieres on Lifetime on April 20.