Kathie Lee Gifford was hospitalized for a week after she fractured her pelvis in two places, the former “Today” host told People. Gifford’s injury and hospitalization happened while she was recovering from hip replacement surgery.
Gifford moved “300 books by myself” during a book signing event in Nashville, something that caused her to weaken her body, she told the outlet. She tripped as she was leaving her home to meet friends the next day. “It didn’t take much, because I was weak in that spot,” she said.
“And the next thing you know, I am back in the hospital with a fractured pelvis, the front and the back. That’s more painful than anything I went through with the hip. The pelvis is unbelievably painful. But anyway, here I am.”
Suffering the injury was “humbling.” As she explained, “You think you know your body and the next thing you know, your body changes when you get older. And as much as I don’t wanna think about it, I am.”
The injury also means she’s missing out on the rest of the season. “It’s summer for everybody but me,” Gifford adds. “But it’s OK. I’m going to get out to my little farm one of these days and stick my feet in my salt pool. The Lord is telling me it’s time to slow down. I’ve been running my whole life. The Lord is telling me, ‘You’ve planted a gazillion roses. Try smelling them.’”
Gifford is promoting her book “Herod and Mary: The Truth Story of the Tyrant King and the Mother of the Risen Savior,” and in mid-July she admitted to People that she pushed herself too hard following her initial surgery.
“I walked, I climbed, I walked, and my doctor said, ‘Kathie, no. You have got to realize that this is serious,” she said. “And I was off my walker in two days. I was off all my medications in three days, and then I did too much. I just did too much because that’s who I am.”
Gifford added, “I started carrying books around and signing and getting ready, and my grandchildren came to visit. And you can’t. I have learned from this that you only can only do so much. You’re just human. You’re just human. And I’m so grateful.”
