American comedian-actor Kathy Griffin is on the mend after undergoing surgery to remove part of her lung. The Emmy Award winner had recently revealed her stage 1 lung cancer diagnosis.
The 60-year-old star revealed on Monday morning that she was having part of her left lung removed. “Surgery went well and as planned,” a representative for the 60-year-old comedian told Us Weekly in a statement on Monday.
“Kathy is now in recovery now and resting. Doctors say the procedure was normal without any surprises,” the rep added. Griffin had previously taken to social media to share a statement about her diagnosis and the road to recovery.
“Yes, I have lung cancer even though I’ve never smoked! Griffin wrote. The doctors are very optimistic as it is stage one and contained to my left lung. Hopefully, no chemo or radiation after this and I should have normal function with my breathing. I should be up and running as usual in a month or less,” she added. Griffin assured her followers that she will be “just fine” and urged them to stay current with their medical checkups, in addition to getting vaccinated against COVID-19, which could have made her diagnosis “even more serious.” “It’s been a helluva 4 years, trying to get back to work, making you guys laugh and entertaining you, but I’m gonna be just fine, she added. “Of course I am fully vaccinated for Covid. The consequences for being unvaccinated would have been even more serious. Please stay up to date on your medical checkups. It’ll save your life. XXOO, KG,” the veteran star concluded.
As per People magazine, in March 2020, she faced a health scare when she experienced COVID-19-like symptoms amid the early days of the pandemic. At one point, she was admitted to an isolation ward room after experiencing “unbearably painful” symptoms, including nausea, diarrhoea, chills and a sore throat.
Griffin has experienced a few losses to cancer in recent years, after her older brother Gary died at age 63 in 2014, following a stage 4 esophageal cancer diagnosis. Her sister Joyce died at age 65 in 2017, after undergoing chemotherapy. Griffin previously shaved her head a few months earlier, in solidarity with Joyce. The comedian’s mom Maggie died in March 2020. The year prior, in January 2019, Griffin had revealed that her mother had been diagnosed with dementia.
