Ravenous Kathy Griffin, 61, Is Hunting For Cheese-Stuffed Arepas And Other Street Food As She Gets Her Appetite Back After Cancer

The comedian is on the hunt for some arepas – ones like those “from street fairs in #NYC, but WHERE in Los Angeles, can I find arepas that are made this way? Two cornmeal pancake types thingys and cheese inside???” asks the comedian to her followers.

Lately, she’s been posting food masterpieces made by her husband.

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A post shared by Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin)

Recovering from lung cancer, Kathy has been open about diet changes she’s made as a result of the complications following treatment. She was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2021 and has been public about her diagnosis and cancer battle.

Healing from Lung Cancer

When healing from lung cancer, it’s important to keep close contact with the members of your care team to let them know about the severity of your pain and discomfort, as well as any anxiety and stress that you may feel. Kathy’s ability to be open about struggles coming into her life post-treatment is how she’s been able to attain comfort in recovery.

"So it’s important that you stay connected and, as things change that maybe don’t feel right, that you connect with your care team and make sure that either they do something to make you feel better or that they reassure you that this is to be expected, because your pain will change in location and nature," says Melissa Culligan, a thoracic surgery nurse at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

Side Effects: Managing Pain and Discomfort after Lung Cancer Surgery

While Griffin appears to be listening to her body with these recent symptoms, she has also appeared to be back to her active self. Keeping active and overdoing it are two completely different things.

Getting proper rest, light exercise when feeling up to it, and eating a nourishing diet (which she looks like she has covered with the help of her live-in chef) are important elements of your healing journey.

Major Reduction in Cancer Risk by Following Old Standbys Diet and Exercise

Diet’s Role in Cancer

An important question for patients with any cancer is the role of diet and exercise in cancer risk. On the question of diet, studies of human populations "have not yet shown definitively that any dietary component causes or protects against cancer."

Unintended weight loss, however, gives a sense of how much of a toll the body is taking from the cancer. Digestive issues like the ones experienced by Griffin might come with a set of unwanted results, like weight changes.

When a patient first visits the oncologist with unintended weight loss, it can be a sign that the cancer is having a large negative effect on the body. Thus, maintaining weight throughout treatment, although a challenge, is important. Dr. Sagar Lonial, Chief Medical Officer at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, says exercise is important: "What I tell patients is the stronger and fitter you are going into treatment, the stronger and fitter you're gonna come out on the back end."

 

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