‘Part of My Brain Died’: Dr. Pimple Popper Reveals She Had a Stroke

Sandra Lee, also known as Dr. Pimple Popper, recently spoke about her stroke and recovery in a new interview. She experienced a stroke last November and has since been working toward returning to her routine.

Dr. Pimple Popper Sandra Lee on suffering from a stroke during filming

Famous dermatologist and YouTuber Dr. Sandra Lee, best known for her TLC series Dr. Pimple Popper, recently sat down with PEOPLE for an interview about her stroke for the first time.

“I notice it right now that I don’t speak exactly the way I used to,” she said at the start of the interview. “You’re really embarrassed to speak because you notice it.” She was referring to the slight hesitancy and mild slurring of speech she experienced after her stroke.

Sandra Lee recalled that she was in the middle of her work last year when the symptoms began. She said she was filming at the time. “I had what I thought was a hot flash. I got super sweaty and didn’t feel like myself,” Lee recalled. She was seeing patients at her Upland, California, practice, where filming was also taking place.

After filming, she went to her parents’ home nearby. “I just felt very restless,” she explained. “In one leg, I kept feeling shooting pains…noticed that I was having a tough time walking down the stairs.”

By the next morning, she realized something was wrong. “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?’” An MRI later confirmed that she had experienced an ischemic stroke.

“It was just a shock,” she said. “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?’”

Lee paused filming for two months and underwent physical and occupational therapy. “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,” she added.

She also said that returning to work was difficult. “There’s a lot of PTSD because it happened while I was filming the show,” she added.

She has since returned to work. “Thankfully, I’m pretty much back to normal,” she said. “It really makes you realize how precious life is.”