Karen Duffy was a household name in the 1990s. As an MTV VJ (video jockey), Karen is best known for her roles in Dumb and Dumber and Blank Check, which made her a star. She was well-known in the entertainment industry and looked to have a bright future. In the meantime, her health took a turn for the worse.
Are you aware of her current health status? Find out more by reading on.
What illness does Karen Duffy have?
Karen Duffy was finally given an official diagnosis of sarcoidosis in 1996 after months of mysterious headaches and pneumonia. Sarcoidosis, according to the Mayo Clinic, is an incurable disease characterized by the growth of inflammatory cell clusters (known as granulomas) in various organs, including the brain, the central nervous system, and the lungs. As a result, patients often suffer from debilitating and long-lasting pain.
In spite of the fact that the cause of Karen’s sarcoidosis is unknown, she has seen no improvement in the past two decades. However, she has continued to work in a variety of capacities since her diagnosis and has even written a few books about her journey.
She married John Lambros, an investment banker, in 1997. According to ABTC, they became parents in 2003 after adopting son Jack Lambros through surrogacy.
However, she continues to have difficulty with even the most basic tasks. “A few days a week, she hurts too much to leave the house,” Oprah.com noted in a 2016 interview.
Pains in her neck, shoulders, and back are not uncommon for her. A burning sensation in her elbow may also cause her fingers to contract involuntarily, making it more difficult for her to grasp objects.
Her pain can be lessened with morphine extended-release pills, lidocaine patches, and even steroids, but nothing will make it go away completely.
There’s a lot of shame involved with chronic illness because you worry that people think you’re a slacker. I would love to be able to play tennis with my husband and be at every hockey practice with my son, but monkeys will fly out of my butt first.
Karen’s last night out before falling ill with sarcoidosis
To promote her new book Wise Up: Irreverent Enlightenment from a Mother Who’s Been Through It, Karen talked to People in April 2022 about the last night of feeling well before her chronic illness took over.
Karen’s last normal experience was the September 1995 Emmys ceremony, which she attended with George Clooney, her good friend, and co-star in the film The Aviator. “I was diagnosed with sarcoidosis the next day,” she said.
After the awards show, she woke up with excruciating pain in her head and neck that felt “like an electric eel swimming up my spinal column,” she explained. Her life had been transformed in a matter of minutes. Although she has had several near-death experiences due to her illness, Karen is now in her 60s and continues to battle it out.
“I just can’t believe I got here. There were times I didn’t think I’d make it. I feel like this is all a bonus round,” she revealed to the outlet.
