Actress Tisha Campbell has opened up about her battle living with sarcoidosis, a chronic lung disease, and how it has impacted her life and marriage to actor Duane Martin.
Campbell talked about her journey on “The MIBO Show” with its host, former music executive and now mental and physical health advocate Shanti Das.
Ironically, she claims her health seemed to improve only after their highly publicized and messy divorce.
According to the “My Wife and Kids” star, while on the set of the sitcom she had the assistant director call a doctor in to review her because she was having trouble breathing and believed intuitively something was not right. The set doctors were unable to help her but tried by giving her medicine to lessen the symptoms.
Later, Campbell realized that she had lesions on her neck and arms and decided that she should go see her personal “lung doctor” because she thought she had pneumonia.
After taking an X-ray, she was referred to a pulmonologist.
The doctor told her that it could be either the valley flu, sarcoidosis, or lymphoma. Whatever it might have been, the actress decided that she was going to fight through it. Her new specialist, Dr. Wolf, ordered a biopsy for her and she assumed the same diagnosis that one of her sitcom brothers, Bernie Mac had.
Originally, the sarcoidosis was in stage 1 on the base of Campbell’s brain, her lymph nodes, and on her right lung. Despite taking steroids and doing all that she could, she gained weight, became pre-diabetic and the disease spread. She believes that after living with the disease for seven to eight years, after she had a C-section it advanced to stage 2.
Tisha filed for divorce from the father of her two sons after 22 years of marriage in 2018. The pandemic added an additional level of stress because her disease broke down her ability to fight off infections and she was in and out of the hospital. By the time 2020 came around, the world shut down because of COVID-19, which made Campbell more paranoid about her illness and getting sick.
“I knew that any type of stress adds on to any disease (dis-ease) that you have,” she said to the host. “I just started working out really hard, despite the fact that I could not breathe at all.”
But then a miracle happened. Campbell’s divorce from Martin was finalized in December 2020 and she seemed to be healed.
“I have to tell the truth. I have been in remission for four years,” she shared. “They can’t find it at the base of my brain at all. I haven’t gotten sick not one time, and I was so scared to get COVID, because I thought if I get COVID I’m going to die. Every cold took me to the hospital.”
She continued, “I have not been sick ever since I got divorce.”
A video clip from Campbell’s interview was posted on Its_onsite’s Instagram page, where many of the outlet’s 1.2 million followers chimed in.
One person wrote, “Ppl dont realize bad relationships can truly affect your health. I believe her.”
Two others said, “Body was rejecting him,” and “That marriage was stress.”
A few commented on how good Campbell looked and has looked since the divorce, during which she accused Martin of hiding money when they separated, leaving her with about $7 in her account.
“Stress will kill you faster then anything else. I happy that she has found her peace and her body has been able to heal itself,” said one observer.
Another added, “She really has looked her best since. love that for her.”
Many patients with sarcoidosis have reported that stress often precedes the onset of their symptoms, according to a 2019 report from Sarcoidosis News. The study states that stressful events are not the only things that can exacerbate symptoms and complicate the management of sarcoidosis, but also psychological stress can play a role in the development of the disease and can trigger flare-ups in people who already have the condition.
Because of this, doctors say stress management is a crucial aspect of the overall treatment plan.
Campbell filed her divorce petition in a Los Angeles Court, citing the two had irreconcilable differences. Her claim also sought joint legal and physical custody of their two sons and permission to legally drop his surname.
Martin countered her divorce request, asking that he be rewarded spousal support from the then-almost 50 years in the TV and film industry professional. The courts denied his request.
Even though Campbell appears to have had a more successful career than him, she also asked for alimony. That was denied too.
Courts determined that both should split expenses for their youngest son, Ezekiel, who was 11 at the time, including costs for his education and health care.
Last July, Campbell’s friend Dani Wright joked that Martin took all of her money and left her in a viral video circulating online.
While that has not been proved, as neither party has divulged details about their divorce, Campbell attributes her recovery from her chronic illness to distancing herself from his drama.
Campbell still remains booked and busy, starring in a new film with Jamie Foxx titled “Not Another Church Movie.” She has a few other projects on the way and feels like she is perfectly healthy to complete projects.
As for Martin, he has moved on and recently announced his engagement to model Ashley Marie Jones. Fans online have called her a Tisha Campbell lookalike.
Why Duane Martin Fiancée look like the younger version of Tisha Campbell pic.twitter.com/wr2u5uJNd2
— DeMarko (@freakymarko) June 1, 2024
