When dermatologist Sandra Lee, a.ok.a. Dr. Pimple Popper, first began feeling particularly drained and out of kinds one evening this previous November, she wasn’t positive what was occurring.
She had a sizzling flash whereas filming her actuality present earlier that day, “Dr. Pimple Popper” on Lifetime, which was uncommon for her, and seen some hassle swallowing whereas consuming soup for dinner.
“I was taping the show, and, you know, it’s a stressful, long day,” Lee mentioned throughout a April 15, 2026, section of the TODAY present. “At the end of the day, I was feeling crabby, as I usually am, because it’s a long day, but I was having trouble swallowing.”
Lee determined to go to mattress early so she may really feel her finest to see sufferers and movie her eponymous actuality present the subsequent day.
But in the course of the evening, Lee was stressed and felt capturing nerve pains down her legs. And when she tried to rise up, she felt noticeably weaker on her left facet. She stumbled round and tried a neurology take a look at she remembered from medical faculty.
Holding out each arms in entrance of her, “I just see (one) hand sort of crumble,” she mentioned.
Lee seen she wasn’t as articulate as standard and felt like she was was stumbling over her words. She thought she may be having a panic assault, however nonetheless tried to push by and get to work.
While filming her present, Lee stays along with her mother and father, who’re additionally each medical professionals. She informed them her signs — they usually urged her to go to the ER simply to be protected.
Lee took their recommendation and went to the hospital. As quickly as she informed them her signs, “they just swept me right in,” she says.
And Lee was shocked to be taught she’d had a stroke.
Shocked and Scared
A stroke occurs when half of the blood provide to the mind is blocked, decreased or leaks out, the Mayo Clinic explains. Without that blood, mind cells start to die shortly.
Hearing that you’ve got had a stroke, particularly on the age of 55, is a really scary expertise, Lee says.
She did have a few risk factors earlier than the stroke, together with hypertension and high cholesterol. Her father additionally beforehand had a mini-stroke that simply lasted a couple of minutes.
The signs of a stroke can embrace these listed in the BEFAST acronym, TODAY.com defined beforehand:
- Balance points or unsteadiness
- Esure, which means sudden imaginative and prescient modifications
- Facial weak point or drooping
- Arm or leg weak point
- Slurred speech
- Time. Call 911 instantly to get stroke therapy as shortly as attainable, which improves outcomes.
Recovery
Now in restoration, Lee is getting used to her new regular, however says she nonetheless would not really feel 100% like herself.
There are moments the place she forgets in regards to the stroke, however the indicators are nonetheless there. She notices them extra when she’s overworked, nervous or drained. While different folks won’t acknowledge the lingering results, she does.
“I still have sometimes when I get stressed, a little bit of a speech difficulty,” Lee mentioned.
As a surgeon who prides herself on her means to make use of her arms, Lee says, it has been exhausting to regulate to the modifications in her grip. It’s one thing that is half of her identification, she says, so it has been exhausting to take care of that.
Although she’s anxious to get higher shortly, Lee additionally is aware of that half of the method is retraining your mind and physique to carry out the duties you are used to doing. In her arm, as an illustration, the muscle groups are nonetheless there, however she must discover a new approach to talk with them.
It’s been exhausting for her to take a break, nevertheless it simply did not really feel proper to deal with sufferers when she did not really feel like herself.
Lee is taking low doses of medicines to handle her blood stress and ldl cholesterol, and says bodily remedy and occupational remedy have been essential.
A Change in Perspective
Having a stroke in her 50s modified Lee’s perspective and made her understand what was actually necessary in her life.
She’d by no means actually considered outdated age, she says, she simply assumed it might occur. But, as a mother, she desires to be round to see her grandkids and acknowledges that she must take care of herself so as to make it to that part of life.
And she desires her story to encourage others to get checked out and prioritize their well being. Too many of us, particularly younger folks, attempt to merely robust out well being issues, Lee says. And, particularly within the Asian neighborhood, there’s a stigma round exhibiting weak point, she provides.
“Even as a doctor, I can recognize these things, but as a woman, being young, thinking like it’s not going to happen to you. … I tried to sleep on it,” she says. And she urges others to not wait to get checked out for stroke signs the best way she did.
With an ischemic stroke, you may be handled and probably keep away from long-term results for those who catch it inside 4 hours, she defined. “I think I missed that window, and that really is key,” Lee mentioned.
And it is necessary to not dismiss indicators that you just may need hypertension or excessive ldl cholesterol, she says, as a result of taking care of your self now may imply avoiding one thing critical sooner or later.
The new season of “Dr. Pimple Popper” premieres April 20, 2026, 9/8c on Lifetime.
