Earlier this week, comedian Kathy Griffin shared a candid message with her fans about her cancer diagnosis. She has since revealed that she’s “home from the hospital.”
Griffin is best known as an award-winning comedian and actor. For five years, she hosted the reality show Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List and she has led many successful comedy tours.
While she has a raunchy and oftentimes controversial sense of humor, the star consistently sides with progressive viewpoints. She had taken bold stances for LGBT rights and against Donald Trump, earning her the title of being a “gay icon.”
On August 2, Griffin shared some devastating news with her social media followers. She wrote that she has been undergoing treatment for lung cancer and will soon require surgery on her left lung.
A few days later, the 60-year-old comedian dropped some more major news: she had attempted suicide in June 2020.
Things seem to be looking up for the bold actor as she revealed that she’s currently recovering from her surgery in the comfort of her home.
Griffin’s battle with cancer and suicide
When Griffin shared the initial news of her diagnosis, she wrote, “I have to tell you guys something. I have cancer. I’m about to go into surgery to have half of my left lung removed. Yes, I have lung cancer even though I’ve never smoked.” Adding some positivity to this dreadful message, she continued, “The doctors are very optimistic as it is stage one and contained to my left lung.”
Griffin further shared that specialists are hopeful that “no chemo or radiation” will be needed after her surgery.
The next day, she gave fans another update. Griffin wrote that her surgery “went well.” Along with her caption, she shared an image of her recovery keychain — commonly given to those who have achieved sobriety from alcohol and drugs.
In her interview with Nightline, mentioned in her tweet above, Griffin spoke about her battle with suicidal thoughts after being addicted to prescription drugs. These issues arose from her 2017 controversy, where she posed for images using a prop of a deceased Donald Trump’s head. The images enraged many and lead to dates of her comedy tour being canceled by venues and CNN dropping her from a forthcoming New Year’s Eve show with Anderson Cooper.
Speaking about this experience years later, Griffin told Nightline, “To lose all of my work overnight and to be told by people in my own industry, ‘It’s over, leave the country for five years. You’ve shamed our industry,’ on and on and on. It definitely got to me. I got to the point where I kind of agreed. Maybe it is time for me to go. And I’ve had a great life and I don’t think there’s a next chapter for me.”
She went on to share that “it wasn’t just a few days of bad press” because people turned to harass her friends and “dying” sister.
Latest update from Kathy Griffin
Griffin’s latest update reveals that she’s home, healing from her dreaded surgery. She shared on Twitter, “Home from the hospital and greeted by my board certified medical PAWfessional recovery pack.”
She accompanied this heartwarming caption with a video of her cuddling an endless amount of dogs (there appears to be four or five). In the video, she’s rocking a pair of cozy black sweatpants with white sneakers and a blue shirt. She is also donning her hospital bracelets and a white mask.
Fans were relieved to get the good news and many are sharing images of their own dogs. One fan wrote, “Even the worst of days are made better with dogs. They say money can’t buy love…but have you ever paid an adoption fee?? Bella sends good vibes to you.”
Another added, “This is my girl. She stayed at my side while i went through 3 mos of chemo and radiation treatments. She’s 13 now and time for me to take care of her. dog caregivers are the best.”
Times have been rough for Griffin over the last year and it was refreshing for fans to see her peacefully healing from her lung surgery. Especially among a pack of therapeutic dogs.
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.