'Dr. Pimple Popper' Star Reveals She Suffered Stroke While Filming Series: 'I Had A Part Of My Brain That Died'

It's already scary to witness a younger person go through a life-changing medical diagnosis, but it's especially jarring to see a medical professional, who presumably knows best about how to care for themselves, go through the same.

Sandra Lee, known as "Dr. Pimple Popper" on Lifetime, is well-known for her bedside manner, medical knowledge and ability to share her knowledge in an accessible way, and, of course, her unique approach to dermatological care.

However, during an interview on TODAY with Jenna and Sheinelle, Lee revealed that all of the stress had begun to creep up on her, and because she was used to a stressful work environment, she almost ignored her symptoms entirely.

It started after a long work day recording her show when she went home and struggled to eat a bowl of soup.

Lee reflected:

"I was taping the show, and, you know, it was a stressful, long day."

"At the end of the day, I was feeling crabby, as I usually am, because it was a long day, but I was having trouble swallowing."

Thinking that the day must have just hit her harder than usual, Lee decided to go to bed early and try to sleep off her symptoms of fatigue and irritability—but unbeknownst to her, she was sleeping through a key phase of her symptoms.

During the night, Lee struggled to sleep because of feelings of restlessness and shooting nerve pains in her legs. She noticed that the left side of her body felt noticeably weaker, putting her off-balance and causing her to stumble.

Lee even resorted to a neurological test she learned in medical school, where she held her arms straight out in front of her and watched her hands to see if they stayed level like they should.

Lee reflected:

"I just see one hand sort of crumble [dropping below the other]."

When she attempted to speak, she also noticed that she could not articulate her words as well.

By this point, she decided to go downstairs to see her parents—who are both in the medical field and with whom she stays while she's filming her show—to explain her symptoms, and they suggested she go to the emergency room, just in case.

Upon going to the hospital, they listened to the symptoms she'd experienced so far and immediately admitted her.

After being evaluated, it was confirmed that Lee had suffered an ischemic stroke, largely during the night while she was attempting to sleep. At the age of 55 and seemingly in peak health, this was a total shock to Lee.

She told People:

"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."

Now in recovery, Lee says that she still has some symptoms, especially during very stressful situations.

For others who think that they might be predisposed for a stroke, Lee suggested following the following acronym:

BE FAST: Balance, Eyes, Facial Weakness, Arms, Slurred Speech, and Time.

In short, if a person notices they are off balance, they have noticeable vision changes, their face appears to be drooping or unresponsive in at least one area, their speech is slurred, or some combination of the above, the next most important thing for them to focus on is diagnosing it in a timely manner.

Doctors can make the most meaningful difference in a person's life if they address stroke symptoms within the first four hours of them appearing, which is something that Lee wished she could go back and change, since most of her event happened during the night.

You can watch the segment here:

- YouTube youtu.be

The news of what happened to Dr. Lee spread online, and X users in particular were shocked to see yet another younger person suffering from a stroke.

It's always alarming when a doctor who clearly knows her stuff suddenly finds herself on the other side of the consultation desk, facing one of her patients' greatest fears.

Fortunately, Dr. Lee received care in enough time to make a difference, and the most important takeaway from her talk is that others do the same.