Kathy Griffin has provided a health update for fans who were left stunned after she shared her lung cancer diagnosis.
The comedian dropped the bombshell earlier this week when she revealed that she would be undergoing surgery to remove part of her left lung. In a new Instagram post, Griffin said that, while the operation had been a success, it was more than she had anticipated.
"Tonight will be my first night without any narcotic pain killers. Hello Tylenol, my new best friend!" Griffin wrote, further explaining that she was last in hospital in June 2020, after attempting to take her own life by overdosing on prescription drugs.
"With over a year clean and drug free, I now know I can do this and anything I want without those devil pills," she continued. "Y'know what? I fear drugs and addiction more than I fear cancer. So, I think I'll be OK."
In an interview with ABC News’ Juju Chang, which aired Monday, Griffin explained that she had learned of the cancer diagnosis a few weeks ago. The news was unexpected because she had never smoked, and it left her in shock.
"I'm still a little bit in shock. Not denial, but ... once a day, I'll just turn to, like, nobody next to me and go, 'Can you believe this s--t? Is this a bitch or what,'" she said. "It's stage 1. It's nowhere else in my body. So I need to focus on that."
Griffin, who struggled with an addiction to pain killers, said she had been aware of a mass on her lungs, which she had been closely monitoring for years, but it had not ever grown. Then she overcame her pill habit and started to notice she was experiencing pain in her body. She went to a doctor who found that the mass had doubled in size.
Her surgery was scheduled for Monday but Griffin still managed to maintain her sense of humor throughout the ordeal.
"I'm about to lose half my lung, and by the way, can I tell you something? When you're a comic, the doctors all wanna be funny. … I love when they try material on me, like it hasn't been happening to me for 40 freaking years," she said.
"He's like, 'Well, you know, the lung is actually a couple of balloons. And so we basically just deflate the lower balloon — remove it. It's kinda like taking out a used condom. You can use that,'" she said. "And I'm, like, 'OK. Why don't you do the surgery and I'll do the jokes.'"
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Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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