Sandra Lee — widely recognized by viewers as Dr. Pimple Popper — has spoken candidly about experiencing a stroke four months ago, describing how frightening it was and how it continues to affect her day-to-day life.
The 55-year-old dermatologist said she started noticing something was off before she went to the emergency room, explaining on Today With Jenna and Sheinelle on Wednesday that she felt “unsteady” on her feet in the lead-up.
“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.
“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?”
When the symptoms didn’t improve the following morning, Lee decided to run a quick neurological check on herself, including holding both arms out. While one arm stayed steady, the other “crumbled,” signaling that something could be seriously wrong.
“It wasn’t huge,” she noted, “but it was something.”
Concerned by what she was noticing, Lee contacted her parents — both doctors — who urged her to seek emergency care immediately.
“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.”
Looking back, Lee stressed how important it is to recognize the warning signs of a stroke and to act fast if you suspect one is happening.
That urgency can be especially critical with ischemic strokes — like the one Lee experienced — because prompt treatment can help prevent long-term 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.”
After the stroke, Lee temporarily halted production on her series Dr. Pimple Popper: Breaking Out and focused on recovery for the remainder of the year.
“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.”
In the months since, she has been working through physical and occupational therapy as she tries to rebuild her balance, strength, and range of motion.