Dr. Pimple Popper Sandra Lee’s stroke has left the famous dermatologist moving more slowly and having “a little more trouble speaking” months after she suffered the startling medical emergency.
The Lifetime star detailed the long-term side effects of her November 2025 stroke during an interview with People published Wednesday.
“It’s the first time in my life that I’ve thought, ‘You have kids, are you going to be here for them? Are you going to live to see your grandkids?’” Lee, 55, told the outlet.
“They could see that I was walking slower and that I had a little more trouble speaking,” she added. “But I don’t dwell on it or make them worried. I just tend to be like, ‘I’m OK.’”
Lee and her husband of 26 years, Jeffrey Rebish, share teenage sons Stratton and Chance. She revealed that her youngest son left for his first year of college weeks before she suffered the stroke last year.
However, Lee’s movement and speech aren’t the only long-term side effects the “Dr. Pimple Popper: Breaking Out” reality star has experienced, as she detailed how the stroke also impacted her body.
“The whole stroke has sort of weakened my body, I feel like, or made me feel a lot older more quickly,” she shared.
Still, Lee has managed to keep herself active by playing pickleball, golf and classical guitar.
On Tuesday, the dermatologist and skin cancer surgeon revealed she suffered an ischemic stroke while filming Season 2 of “Dr. Pimple Popper: Breaking Out” last November.
She told People how she experienced “what [she] thought was a hot flash” before getting “super sweaty” and not feeling like herself.
“What essentially happened is, I had a part of my brain that died. It was just a shock,” the former TLC star recalled. “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?’ More like a living nightmare.”
Lee went on to share that she doesn’t like not having “total control” of her left hand because the grip isn’t as strong.
“If I feel like I’m not at my best — it’s very scary,” she said.
As for why Dr. Pimple Popper publicly announced her health ailment, Lee said it was to bring awareness and erase the stigma that often comes with strokes and similar health scares.
“They don’t tell people they’ve had a stroke because it can be seen as a sign of weakness,” she explained. “I want to get the word out that if you have symptoms like I had, make sure you see your doctor. Take care of yourself.”
Besides the long-term side effects she mentioned, Lee is “pretty much back to normal” nearly five months after the scary attack.
She’s also found a glimmer of hope after months of physical and occupational therapy.
“Maybe it’s actually good that it happened then because this is a transition time where we’re trying to focus more on ourselves,” Lee said of her and her husband.
“So maybe it actually happened at a better time if it was going to happen, just so that I could focus more on myself and try to get things taken care of,” she concluded.
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