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"Get my voice back": Kathy Griffin's intense pre-op drama

<p>Kathy Griffin has shared footage of her pre-operation appointment before she undergoes vocal cord surgery in an effort to save her voice.</p> <p>The American comedian took to TikTok to show fans the process of her surgeon sticking a camera scope up her nose and through to her vocal cord to get a clearer view of the damage.</p> <p>"First step is the numbing spray. Then the scope goes up the nose, down into the vocal cords!" she explained with captions.</p> <p>"As you can see, the left chord is paralyzed.”</p> <p>After she was instructed to make noises to test the cords, Griffin is seen following the doctor’s orders and watching her vocal cord movement on the screen.</p> <p>Griffin reflected post-operation in the same clip, with the 62-year-old lying in a recovery bed following the surgery.</p> <div><iframe title="tiktok embed" src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2Fembed%2Fv2%2F7242029180651687214&display_name=tiktok&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2F%40kathygriffin%2Fvideo%2F7242029180651687214&image=https%3A%2F%2Fp19-sign.tiktokcdn-us.com%2Fobj%2Ftos-useast5-p-0068-tx%2F202ea4a9813e435c92a1c6996f018c11_1686166329%3Fx-expires%3D1686236400%26x-signature%3D%252Bk5fTTtG0O6jMWR7Pnky9ekvIlw%253D&key=5b465a7e134d4f09b4e6901220de11f0&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=tiktok" width="340" height="700" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div> <p>"I just had my latest surgery on my left vocal cord, because I want to be in good shape for my big Vegas show," she said.</p> <p>"This is just part of my recovery post-lung cancer surgery," she added. "I'm cancer-free, so anyway a little scratchy today, but I'll be in good shape.”</p> <p>"I so appreciate you guys following along on my journey to get my voice back after lung cancer,” Griffin captioned the video, also sharing it to her Instagram.</p> <p>Griffin had part of her lung removed in 2021 after being diagnosed with lung cancer and was in remission four months later.</p> <p>Her latest hospital visit comes after she revealed her diagnosis of “complex PTSD” in early 2023.</p> <p>Griffin shared her diagnosis in a TikTok in April, asking her followers for recommendations on how to cope with anxiety and depression.</p> <p>"Let's talk about PTSD. Never talked about it publicly," she said. "You can laugh or whatever, but I've been diagnosed with complex PTSD, and it's called an extreme case."</p> <p><em>Image credit: TikTok</em></p>

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Barry Humphries morbid hospital jokes revealed

<p>Beloved Aussie comedian Barry Humphries was renowned for his jokes and cheeky commentary, and it seems he held onto his humour until the very end.</p> <p>Longtime friend of the jokester, author Kathy Lette, said his comedic flare had everyone laughing, although his jokes were rather grim.</p> <p>Speaking to <em>The Project</em>, Lette, who was Humphries’ UK neighbour for 26 years, mentioned one of her recent visits to the late performer in hospital.</p> <p>“Barry didn’t have a skerrick of self pity so when you’d visit him in hospital his one concern was you felt at ease and that he was making the nurses laugh,” she said.</p> <p>“So the last time I saw him in hospital he was joking about how the grim reaper had been walking up and down the hospital corridors at night saying, ‘He didn’t collect me this time.’</p> <p>“And he joked with the nurses, saying ‘How many did he collect?’ and I said to him, ‘As you’re here they probably died laughing.’ Then he made jokes about what the grim reaper was wearing and what a terrible outfit he has, how it was the original hoodie.</p> <p>“ … Being in hospital visiting Barry I almost had to be hospitalised from hilarity.”</p> <p>Lette shared she was shocked by his death as she had expected him to pull through.</p> <p>“It’s been such a horrible ordeal. We honestly thought he was going to rally.”</p> <p>Humphries <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/news/news/tributes-flow-for-barry-humphries" target="_blank" rel="noopener">died aged 89 on April 22</a> at Sydney’s St Vincent Hospital in Darlinghurst following health issues caused by a broken hip. He was surrounded by his wife Lizzie and daughters Emily and Tessa.</p> <p>He was infamous for his comedy characters like Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson.</p> <p>Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described him as “the brightest star in the galaxy” and King Charles said he was “saddened” by the news of his death.</p> <p>“He was completely himself until the very end, never losing his brilliant mind, his unique wit and generosity of spirit,” the statement read.</p> <p>“With over seventy years on the stage, he was an entertainer to his core, touring up until the last year of his life and planning more shows that will sadly never be.</p> <p>“His audiences were precious to him, and he never took them for granted.</p> <p>“Although he may be best remembered for his work in theatre, he was a painter, author, poet, and a collector and lover of Art in all its forms. He was also a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather, and a friend and confidant to many.</p> <p>“His passing leaves a void in so many lives.</p> <p>“The characters he created, which brought laughter to millions, will live on.”</p> <p><em>Image credit: Getty</em></p>

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Mother with ASL stands to dance with son at wedding

<p dir="ltr">A wheelchair-bound mother has given her son an incredible wedding memory after standing up and dancing with him. </p> <p dir="ltr">Zak Poirier shared a heartwarming video of his mother Kathy, who has ASL, being held up by her other sons Nick and Jake to dance with him at his wedding.</p> <p dir="ltr">An emotional Kathy was wheeled to the dancefloor where Zak whispered something to her and she nodded.</p> <p dir="ltr">She was then lifted from her seat and grabbed onto her son as they danced to “Humble and Kind” by Tim McGraw in front of a crowd of about 130 guests at Ever After Farms Blueberry Wedding Barn in Mims, Florida. </p> <p dir="ltr">Zak shared the footage to his Instagram and it has received almost 59,000 views since it was posted on April 29. </p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cc6VH54obVf/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cc6VH54obVf/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Zak Poirier (@z_poirier)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">“We had planned it. The actual dance itself was spontaneous,” Zak Poirier told Fox News Digital.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We were both pretty adamant that we wanted to share a dance regardless of how long it was. By the time we got up there, we weren’t really sure how it would work — but it went perfectly, and it was great.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Kathy said she was extremely nervous to have people watch her being helped but knew it was something she would do for her son. </p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s that this was such a milestone in one of my kids’ lives, and it wasn’t what I had envisioned,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It was really emotional to have to accept the fact that I can’t stand or use my hands. And that people would be watching me. And I felt like I was going to be judged. But I knew I wanted to do it, and I wasn’t going to let anybody tell me I couldn’t.</p> <p dir="ltr">“But to be in the arms of all three of my sons was just beautiful. It just made me feel strong.”</p> <p dir="ltr">When the song was over, the pair received a standing ovation from the crowd. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>

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Lung cancer diagnosis on the rise in non-smokers

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With lung cancer coming in as the fifth most common type of cancer diagnosed in Australia, but ranking as the leading cause of cancer death, experts are calling for more research to help identify it in its early stages and determine risk factors in non-smokers.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">An example of a person with lung cancer, despite having never smoked, is US comedian Kathy Griffin who recently revealed she has been diagnosed with the cancer.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Because the cancer was caught early and is confined to her left lung, the 60-year-old comedian will undergo surgery to remove half of her left lung.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Following her surgery, Griffin is on the mend and keeping fans up-to-date with her recovery.</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CSSWpL7hcRz/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CSSWpL7hcRz/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Griffin isn’t alone either, with a growing number of people receiving a lung cancer diagnosis without ever smoking.</span></p> <p><strong>Not just a “smoker’s disease”</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Though smoking is one of the largest risk factors for lung cancer, the proportion of those diagnosed with the disease who are “never-smokers” is increasing.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to the Cancer Council NSW, about 35 percent of Australian women and 15 percent of men who have been diagnosed with the condition were life-long non-smokers.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This increase in the condition has been seen in other countries with a </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28132018/" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">2017 study</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> of lung cancer patients in US hospitals finding the percentage of never-smokers increased from eight percent in 1990 to 1995, to 14.9 percent from 2011 to 2013.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Surgeon Andrew Kaufman, whose program for never-smokers at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York has treated 3,800 patients in 10 years, said: “Since the early 2000s, we have seen what I think is truly an epidemiological shift in lung cancer.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It is well-documented that approximately 20 percent of lung cancer cases that occur in women in the US and nine percent of cases in men, are diagnosed in never-smokers,” he confirmed.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, the reasons why more people are being diagnosed without smoking is not well known.</span></p> <p><strong>More research is needed</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dr Marianne Weber, a senior research fellow at the Daffodil Centre, is overseeing a new study to identify potential risk factors for those who don’t smoke.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">By poring over two large population studies in Australia and China, the researchers are looking to link lung cancer to factors such as diet, lifestyle, and household air pollution.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“If we can highlight a risk profile for someone who might go on to develop lung cancer when they’re a non-smoker, that would be ideal,” Dr Weber said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So far, cancer doctors have found one group of people who are more at risk: women.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Worldwide, half of female lung cancer patients have never smoked, while only 15 percent of male lung cancer patients are never-smokers.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Josephine Feliciano, an oncologist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said that, beyond sex, “nothing stands out as a single large risk factor” for lung cancer in non-smokers.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“But air pollution, radon, family history of lung cancer, [and] genetic predispositions [all play a role],” Feliciano said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Additionally, chronic lung infections and lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) seems to increase the risk of diagnosis.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Of all the patients that present with the disease, the current survival rate is only about 17 percent,” said Dr Stirling, a senior respiratory specialist at The Alfred Hospital and leader of the Victorian Lung Cancer Registry.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“For patients with stage four disease the median survival, so that’s the time at which 50 percent of patients will succumb to the disease, is somewhere between seven and 12 months.”</span></p>

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Feud between Sam Armytage and Kathy Griffin turns nasty

<div class="replay"> <div class="reply_body body linkify"> <div class="reply_body"> <div class="body_text "> <p>Two months after she first unleashed on <em>Sunrise</em> host Samantha Armytage, controversial US comedian Kathy Griffin has launched another nasty attack on the Aussie TV star – but this time, the bitter feud got very, very personal.</p> <p>The hostility between the two began when Armytage questioned Griffin, who shared a photo of herself holding a fake severed head resembling Donald Trump, if she had gone too far. Griffin fired back, telling Armytage she was “full of crap.”</p> <p>During her Sydney Opera House stand-up show on Saturday, Griffin, who lost her job at CNN, had her tour cancelled and was ostracised by Hollywood because of the stunt, proved that the beef was still well and truly alive.</p> <p>According to the <em>Daily Telegraph</em>, Griffin took the feud to a disgraceful new low, implying Armytage was in a sexual relationship with “homophobic” Margaret Court and “Islamophobic” Pauline Hanson.</p> <p>In an interview with radio hosts Kyle and Jackie O prior to the sold-out show, Griffin was unapologetic, saying she put Armytage “on the map”. </p> <p>“She has been doing interviews where she said that she thinks I’m unwell. She feels that my answer, when I told her she was full of crap, made me quote ‘unwell’ which makes me feel bad, because I heard she has scurvy," Griffin said. </p> <p>Armytage has remained mostly silent during Griffin’s attacks, however during an appearance on Mark Latham’s <em>Outsiders</em> earlier this month, she did briefly address the feud. </p> <p>“I just thought she was a little bit unwell. I wasn’t applying politics that day I just thought she was a little bit unwell – kooky is one word for it," Armytage commented.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div>

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Kathy Bates was told to keep her cancer a secret

<p>She may be one of the most acclaimed actresses of her generation, but Kathy Bates was once warned her career would be in jeopardy if she brought her health struggles out into the open. The 69-year-old, who has suffered from both ovarian and breast cancer, was told to keep her illness a secret or risk damaging her future as an actress.</p> <p>“Back in 2003, when I had ovarian cancer, my agent told me not to tell anyone about it,” <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.webmd.com/cancer/features/kathy-bates-life-with-lymphedema#1" target="_blank">she told WebMD</a></strong></span>. “Even my gynaecologist, whose husband worked in the business, warned that I shouldn’t come out with it because of the stigma in Hollywood. So I was very careful.”</p> <p>However, the <em>Misery </em>star changed her mind after seeing an idol rock her chemo-induced hair loss with pride during a concert.</p> <p>“I saw Melissa Etheridge doing a concert and just wailing on her guitar with her bald head, and I thought, ‘Wow, I wanna be her!’ So when the breast cancer diagnosis came, I knew I wanted to be honest about it,” she recalled.</p> <p>Having undergone a double mastectomy in 2012, Bates revealed she chose not to have reconstructive surgery, arguing, “I don’t have breasts – so why do I have to pretend like I do?”</p> <p>“That stuff isn’t important. I’m just grateful to have been born at a time when the research made it possible for me to survive. I feel so incredibly lucky to be alive.”</p>

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