A Successful Cancer Recovery Mission
- Kathy Griffin, 61, has been putting forth a lot of effort to keep her loyal fan base updated on her lung cancer healing journey after beating the disease late last year.
- After months of recovering from surgery, and suffering from damaged vocal chords, the entertainer displayed to her overjoyed fans via Tik Tok video that her voice is finally back!
- Lung cancer surgery impacts the body in various ways. It may cause fatigue, leaving the patient feeling weak and tired. There's also the risk of infection after surgery. Signs of infection after lung cancer surgery can include: shivering, feeling nauseous, swelling or redness around the surgical wound, and fluctuating temperature. Speak with your doctor if you experience any of these things.
Like many recovering cancer patients, the veteran comedian has had her share of ups and downs. As an entertainer, and someone who has the gift of gab, the brunt of her frustration has been her damaged vocal chords and losing her voiceup until now that is!
Read More“Your voice is BACK baby!” one fan wrote. “She is back to sounding like Kathy,” said another. “I LOVE HEARING YOUR VOICE,” chimed in a third in all caps.
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It certainly is music to everyone’s ears as her entire comment feed is singing the cancer warrior’s praises after a very tough recovery journey thus far.
For reference, here is what Griffin has sounded like recently. Her voice had been improving, but it looks like this latest procedure she had getting injections of some sort of “filler” down her throatas uncomfortable as it may sounddid the trick.
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In her, “here’s Kathy Griffin trying to get her voice back update,” she clued fans in at the time on her upcoming surgery. “My dog is even shivering in fear!” she said of the “harrowing” thought of what she has to do to get somewhat back to normal.
Prior to that, Griffin had complications swallowing, and let all the NSFW (not safe for work) jokes ensue.
During her first time up on stage doing stand up post-cancer surgeryand post-pandemicfans started chuckling a little at her whispery voice, which she quickly explained was due to having had lung cancer and surgery, which many in the audience did not know. They went on to give her their utmost respect and listened intently in complete silence so that she could successfully get her set out, and it made Griffin feel all the feels!
There’s nothing better than getting love and support from friends, family, and in her case, fans, during and after a difficult cancer battle.
The Benefit of Support Networks for Cancer Patients
Kathy’s Lung Cancer Battle
Kathy Griffin was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2021 and has been very public about her diagnosis and cancer battle. She's a non-smoker and was diagnosed with stage 1 lung cancer. A stage 1 lung cancer diagnosis indicates that the cancer hasn't spread to the lymph nodes or other organs in the body.
Symptoms of lung cancer typically include:
- Sudden and unexplained weight loss
- Constant coughing that becomes painful over time
- Shortness of breath
- Changes in voice or difficulty speaking without getting winded
- Pain in the torso, mid- and upper-back, and shoulders
- Discoloration or a sudden change in color of mucus and saliva
Griffin had surgery to treat her disease, which, as she shares, impacted her voice and her vocal chords. Lung cancer surgery impacts the body in various ways. It may cause fatigue, leaving the patient feeling weak and tired. There's also the risk of infection after surgery.
Signs of infection after lung cancer surgery can include: shivering, feeling nauseous, swelling or redness around the surgical wound, and fluctuating temperature. Breathlessness is also normal after lung cancer surgery. Long-term pain can present as well.
Speak with your doctor if you experience any of these things.
Healing from Lung Cancer
For those who are fortunate enough to be able to have surgery, like Griffin, managing pain after the operation is difficult once you get home.
SurvivorNet spoke with Melissa Culligan, Director of Clinical Research – Division of Thoracic Surgery at University of Maryland Medical Center, who has been taking care of lung cancer patients for 30 years. Culligan expressed how crucial it is to stay in touch with your medical team.
“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,” she said, “because your pain will change in location and nature,” she added.
Side Effects Managing Pain and Discomfort after Lung Cancer Surgery
As you become more active, Culligan says your pain “may increase a little bit,” as it did for Griffin, who would have days out at lunch and events feeling great, but then be stuck in bed shortly after. Despite the setbacks, it’s important to keep moving, within reason of course. And while medication is usually necessarincluding certain meds to cope with stressit’s best to only use them on an as-needed basis.
“Medications aren’t always the answer,” she said, and therefore encourages patients “to go out and go to the movies and go to the mall and maintain their life as best they can while they’re going through treatment and recovering from it,” she advised, making sure to highlight that part of their job is helping patients learn how to cope with stress.
“It’s critical after surgery and after any treatment that you do keep active and keep your body in the best possible condition along the way.”
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.