Kathie Lee Gifford Opens Up About Debilitating Chronic Pain, Misdiagnosis, and Praying to 'Go Home'

Kathie Lee Gifford is regaining her vitality after a year-long health struggle marked by numerous surgeries and persistent pain. The television icon shared that there were moments she felt so overwhelmed she “wanted to die,” though she clarified these thoughts were not suicidal.

Gifford is candid about the “debilitating” health battle that, at one point, left her praying to “go home.”

“I wanted to die a few times,” Gifford told People. “I wasn't going to hurt myself. I wasn't going to kill myself. I just didn't want to be here — as blessed as I am.”

Misdiagnosis and Initial Struggle

Gifford revealed her chronic pain was initially misidentified, leading to nearly a year of treatment for a spinal condition before doctors discovered the true source of her discomfort.

“Thank God, I finally had the hip surgery. I had been misdiagnosed. And for a year they kept trying to treat my spine. And I said, 'I have no pain in my spine. It's in my hip. I don't know how you missed that on an X-ray.'”

The extent of the damage only became apparent following her hip operation, according to the former host.

“The doctor, wonderful doctor here in Tennessee, in my post-op, the next day, he said, ‘Kathie, how were you existing? How were you existing with the most excruciating pain?’ He said, ‘That’s one of the worst hips I’ve ever seen. In fact, you didn’t have one' … he said all it was was ashes, arthritic ash and little, teeny bone spurs.’”

Cascade of Health Setbacks

The 72-year-old described a challenging recovery process where one medical issue seemingly led to another, likening herself to “Mr. Potato Head! One thing falls off and then another.”

Her journey started with a total hip replacement, but her recovery was extended when she fractured the same hip, necessitating another surgery. Further setbacks included breaking her arm by rolling onto it in her sleep, suffering another broken bone after a fall on uneven pavement, and undergoing cataract surgery due to issues with her depth perception.

Despite the immense physical toll, Gifford maintained her signature sense of humor, declaring, “I'm a tough broad.”

The constant physical pain, however, significantly altered her daily life, preventing her from engaging actively with her five young grandchildren.

“I couldn't carry them, I couldn't love on them, I couldn't run and play with them,” she said. “All I could do was sit there and sing and write silly songs with them.”

Emotional Burden and Path to Recovery

Gifford confessed the emotional weight of living with incessant pain became overwhelming.

“I've had emotional pain many times in my life, but never this chronic physical pain where you literally want to go home to Jesus.”

She drew a parallel to conversations with her late husband, Frank Gifford, who often worried about meeting public expectations as his health declined.

“I remember Frank saying to me before he passed, 'When I go somewhere, I know what people are expecting from me. I want to be Frank Gifford when I go out,'” she recalled.

Gifford echoed this sentiment, explaining, “I want to be Kathie Lee, the person they expect. I don't want to disappoint people. But when you're in pain, it's so debilitating, and everything's a grimace.” At her lowest, she repeatedly prayed, “Lord, if this is all you have left for me, I want to go home.”

Now, after enduring multiple surgeries, receiving stem cell therapy, and committing to physical therapy six days a week, Gifford reports she is finally regaining control of her life.

She now joyfully runs “all over the place” with her grandchildren, a milestone she once doubted she would achieve again.

“They're all fantastic,” she shared. “I'm hoping, Lord willing, that I have many, many years with them.”

The television personality has embraced her busy new chapter as a grandmother, welcoming five grandchildren in just three years: Cody's children, Frank (4), Ford (2), and Faith (10 months); and Cassidy's children, Finn (3), and Rosie (13 months).