Pimple popper Dr. Sandra Lee feared she would “never have surgery” again after suffering a stroke in November 2025.
“I had a stroke four months ago, but I’m fine now,” she told Page Six radio hosts Danny Murphy and Evan Real on Thursday morning.
“At first, I was like, ‘What am I going to do? Am I going to be disabled? Is this the end? I’m not going to have another surgery.'”
Lee, 55, candidly admitted that he fears the uncertainty of the future, adding: “This happened to me while I was actually recording the show, so you have a little bit of PTSD.”
“In my heart, it’s somehow connected to this show,” she continued, referring to the TLC reality series “Dr. Pimple Popper: Break Out.”
The TV personality said she feels “99 per cent better” but has noticed “a range” and “sometimes it gets a little worse, sometimes it gets a little better.”
Lee is still able to perform surgeries and “talk to people without looking like he’s losing his mind,” she said. However, she still struggles with not being able to fully raise her left arm.
When she asked if she knew what caused her stroke, the surgeon explained that high blood pressure and cholesterol run in her family.
“My dad had a mild stroke when he was about 60, so he’s older than me, but I’m in my mid-50s so it’s hard to say, but that’s part of it,” she continued.
Lee admitted that she had been neglecting to see a doctor to check her vitals and said she had fooled herself into thinking she didn’t need it because she looked and felt younger thanks to her dermatologist’s treatment.
“It’s like saying, ‘Okay, maybe you should go to the doctor to get your blood pressure and cholesterol checked, that sounds moldy,'” she says.
The Lifetime star explained that she hopes her story will “inspire others to take care of themselves.”
Lee previously revealed that he suffered an ischemic stroke during production on season two of the show.
Reminiscing about her stroke, the TLC star told People that she thought she was having a hot flash until she became “so sweaty” that she didn’t feel like herself.
“As a doctor, I couldn’t deny that he had slurred speech and weakness on one side, but I thought, ‘Well, this is a dream, right?’ It was more like a living nightmare,” she said.
To help with his recovery, Lee has been undergoing physical therapy and occupational therapy.
