Tiffany Chen, Robert De Niro’s partner, has revealed that she was diagnosed with postpartum Bell’s palsy after the birth of their daughter.
In her first interview since welcoming the Hollywood icon’s seventh child, Tiffany, 45, spoke in detail about the horrific condition in which CBS mornings.
In a preview for the sit-down, which will air in full Friday, the new mom explained that shortly after returning home from the hospital following the birth of her and 79-year-old actor’s daughter, Gia Virginia Chen De Niro, in April, she noticed that her tongue had gone numb.
She said her whole face soon began to feel “weird,” but she couldn’t pinpoint what was causing the sensation.
Robert De Niro’s partner Tiffany Chen has revealed she developed postpartum Bell’s palsy after the birth of their daughter
The 45-year-old said she “lost all facial functions” as a result of the diagnosis
The former martial arts expert sat down with CBS Mornings’ Gayle King to discuss her health anxiety
“My tongue felt strange, it felt a little tingling, it started to feel a little numb,” she recalled as the Gayle King host.
“I realized my face just felt weird. I didn’t know what the feeling was I had. It felt weird.’
Tiffany stared into the mirror and said it seemed like “everything” on her face “fell down” and “melted on its own.”
She explained that her symptoms kept getting worse and within days she began to struggle with speaking.
Also, it was hard for her to eat because she said everything would “come out” of her mouth.
She revealed, “I was trying to eat. I was just going to put a fork of food in my mouth and everything came out. I couldn’t eat.
And then I started smearing. i [realized]there’s really something going on here.’
A terrified Tiffany decided to call her doctor, who told her to go to the hospital immediately.
Tiffany (seen with Robert in June 2023) said she ‘started to mumble her words’ and couldn’t ‘eat’
She revealed, “I was trying to eat. I was just going to put a fork of food in my mouth and everything came out. I couldn’t eat. And then I started to slurp’
Robert and Tiffany welcomed their daughter, Gia Virginia Chen De Niro (seen), in April
Robert and Tiffany have been linked since the summer of 2021, after reportedly meeting on the set of the actor’s hit 2015 comedy The Intern (seen)
“I lost all facial function as soon as I got to the hospital,” she said.
Per Mayo clinicBell’s palsy is a “condition that causes sudden weakness in the muscles on one side of the face.”
It is caused by swelling and inflammation of the nerve that controls the muscles in the face and is common after pregnancy. If left untreated, it can lead to permanent paralysis.
Tiffany’s candid interview comes as her boyfriend comes to grips with the tragic passing of his 18-year-old grandson, Leandro De Niro Rodriguez (seen)
Robert and Tiffany have been linked since the summer of 2021, after they reportedly met on the set of the actor’s hit 2015 comedy, The Intern.
The Goodfellas star first revealed he welcomed his newest child – his seventh – in May, after an ET Canada reporter asked him what it was like to be a father of six.
The actor responded by saying that he actually had seven because he basically “just had a baby.”
At the time, he did not share the youngster’s name or gender, nor did he reveal the identity of his baby’s mother.
However, it has since been confirmed that the Good Fellas alum’s girlfriend of over a year, martial arts instructor Tiffany, is the mother of his newest addition.
When asked if the pregnancy was ‘planned’ by Page six days later, Robert responded by asking the outlet, “How could you not plan something like this?”
He also told People in June that his other children — Drena, 51, Raphael, 46, twins Julian and Aaron, 27, Elliot, 24, and Helen, 11 — had “not yet” met his new daughter, but added: “She shall.’
Leandro’s shock death occurred on July 5 when the teen’s body was found sitting in a chair in his $950,000 apartment at the Cipriani Club Residences (seen) on Wall Street
Leandro was the son of Robert’s adopted daughter Drena and artist Carlos Rodriguez. Leandro, Drena and Robert are seen together
Days later, his mother revealed in an Instagram comment that he had died from ‘fentanyl-laced’ drugs
Tiffany’s candid interview comes as her boyfriend mourns the tragic passing of his 18-year-old grandson, Leandro De Niro Rodriguez.
Leandro’s shock death occurred on July 5 when the teen’s lifeless body was found sitting in a chair in his $950,000 one-bedroom apartment at the Cipriani Club Residences on Wall Street.
Leandro was the son of Robert’s adopted daughter Drena and artist Carlos Rodriguez.
A police source told DailyMail.com at the time that a “white powdery substance” had been found near his body and there were no signs of trauma.
Days later, his mother revealed that he had died from “fentanyl-laced” drugs.
She wrote in an Instagram comment, “Someone sold him fentanyl laced pills that they knew were laced but sold them to him anyway.
“So to all these people who are still messing around selling and buying shit, my son is gone forever.”