Kathy Griffin has never been one to shy away from a challenge, but her struggle over the past few years has been tough even by her standards. She’s been busy sharing details of her latest medical emergency and a source exclusively tells In Touch she’s feeling humbled yet determined to stay on track following a series of setbacks.

The iconic personality, 64, announced with her standard comedic candor in April she underwent a hysterectomy for a precancerous condition. “Happy Monday!” she posted on Instagram. “I had a hysterectomy on Friday, that’s right they took out the uterus, the fallopian tubes & the ovaries. Pre-cancerous, blah blah blah.”

Though, the source notes that behind the scenes, Kathy isn’t taking the procedure lightly and the constant health battles have begun to wear her down. “The last six years have been absolutely brutal,” the insider shares. “It’s been one health thing after another.” 

Kathy revealed she was diagnosed with stage 1 lung cancer in December 2021, which required extensive treatment and horribly invasive surgeries to beat back. She discussed the trauma with Jimmy Kimmel during a December 2021 episode of his show, explaining, “In August, I had half of my left lung removed … I’m not even kidding.” She also added her voice had been altered due to an intubation tube damaging her vocal chords. That particular complication required another surgery altogether, which she underwent in May 2023.

“They use a hook to open your mouth,” she explained to People in June 2023, “because there’s a freaking needle down my throat!”

“The thing that’s been really crazy and kind of like, a mindf–k, is that when I had cancer, I had no symptoms, then I got the surgery where they took out half my left lung. And now it’s like, I sound and feel like I have cancer,” she said. “The thing that’s frustrating is I actually sound like I’m in pain, but I’m not.”

After all the rigmarole, the source notes many around the controversial actress are impressed she’s still fighting on and continuing with her career. 

“People are amazed by her resilience. She’s battled cancer and bat it, but the fact that she’s managed to bounce back time and again is just astounding.” 

“She just had an emergency hysterectomy because they found cancerous cells and suddenly had to take it all out,” the source says. “And just before that she had vocal surgery. Her voice was damaged when she had surgery for lung cancer, so she’s just had vocal surgery to help get some return of her voice but she doesn’t have the volume or strength she used to.” 

Despite the setbacks, nothing will stop Kathy from taking the stage again and speaking her mind. “Even after all this she’s still going ahead with her first stand up show next month,” the source adds. “So this is a massive step forward and not something she wants to give up on.” 

“But it’s not easy, she’s pushing through huge obstacles, but that’s Kathy, she’s a fighter.”