Kathy Griffin has announced that she has stage one lung cancer.
The comedian, who received heat for posing with a bloody effigy of then-President Donald Trump in 2017, also revealed that she was placed in psychiatric hold after she attempted suicide last year as she was struggling with addiction to prescription drugs.
The 60-year-old actor-comedian revealed the suicide attempt and cancer diagnosis on Monday, August 2, during an interview with ABC News.
Griffin said that she was diagnosed with lung cancer despite never smoking cigarettes, and will have to have part of her left lung removed.
She added that she developed her drug addiction to cope with the backlash she endured after posing with a bloody effigy of then-President Donald Trump in 2017. She said she is now sober and eager to survive the health scare.
She said: “The irony is not lost on me that, a little over a year ago, all I wanted to do was die. And now, all I wanna do is live.”
She explained that she started taking Provigil after it was prescribed to her by a doctor. Griffin said she was then prescribed Ambien to help her sleep as well as painkillers for other injuries.
She continued: “I started thinking about suicide more and more as I got into the pill addiction, and it became almost an obsessive thought. I started really convincing myself it was a good decision.
“I got my living revocable trust in order. I had all my ducks in a row. I wrote the note – the whole thing.”
The suicide attempt took place in June of last year.
She said: “I really fell in love with (the pills).
“Then, it was kind of the allure of, ‘Oh, I can regulate my energy levels or my moods’. Or…I fell on my elbow in my act or something and I can be pain-free or something.
“And it got out of control very rapidly.”
Griffin, who had two siblings who died of cancer in recent years, took to Instagram earlier on Monday to reveal her diagnosis.
“I’ve got to tell you guys something. I have cancer,” she wrote on Instagram. https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?gdpr=0&us_privacy=1—&client=ca-pub-2427099653703778&output=html&h=300&adk=2141876619&adf=667904977&pi=t.aa~a.1834861711~i.67~rp.4&w=360&lmt=1627933555&num_ads=1&rafmt=1&armr=3&sem=mc&pwprc=4779063894&psa=1&ad_type=text_image&format=360×300&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lindaikejisblog.com%2F2021%2F8%2Fkathy-griffin-reveals-she-has-stage-1-lung-cancer-and-she-was-put-in-psychiatric-hold-after-she-attempted-suicide-last-year-2.html&flash=0&fwr=1&pra=3&rh=275&rw=330&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&sfro=1&wgl=1&fa=27&adsid=ChEI8K-eiAYQ6qT4r9Lm4c6wARI5AE8HY_AH0h-OOJSaALnxCivhBEUyKvVV5YGS8INzz0yVyA5hXFmUSwSvHEY501DVYUsRqEVCuf3K&uach=WyJBbmRyb2lkIiwiOSIsIiIsIkluZmluaXggWDY1MEIiLCI5Mi4wLjQ1MTUuMTE1IixbXSxudWxsLG51bGwsbnVsbF0.&tt_state=W3siaXNzdWVyT3JpZ2luIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9hdHRlc3RhdGlvbi5hbmRyb2lkLmNvbSIsInN0YXRlIjo3fV0.&dt=1627933612140&bpp=22&bdt=5743&idt=-M&shv=r20210728&mjsv=m202107290101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3D6f62d75ac2f0c0c6-2251d019a8c80035%3AT%3D1622665487%3ART%3D1622665487%3AS%3DALNI_MZ85Ep3SvTaGfc8Juk8Onrd6Hwi6g&prev_fmts=0x0&nras=2&correlator=603038380347&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=1187515804.1622665486&ga_sid=1627933610&ga_hid=1863869996&ga_fc=0&u_tz=60&u_his=3&u_java=0&u_h=800&u_w=360&u_ah=800&u_aw=360&u_cd=24&u_nplug=0&u_nmime=0&adx=0&ady=2987&biw=360&bih=664&scr_x=0&scr_y=1962&eid=44739548%2C20211866%2C21067496&oid=3&pvsid=1113825787569352&pem=777&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lindaikejisblog.com%2F&eae=0&fc=1408&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C360%2C0%2C360%2C664%2C360%2C664&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7Cs%7C&abl=NS&fu=1152&bc=31&ifi=2&uci=a!2&btvi=1&fsb=1&xpc=8iFKwfRxlm&p=https%3A//www.lindaikejisblog.com&dtd=1648
“I’m going to go into surgery to have half of my left lung removed. Yes, I have lung cancer even though I’ve never smoked!”