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Jim Gaffigan: Comedian’s Wife Has Brain Tumor

By Tara Dodrill
Published on: 05:44 PST, May 3, 2017

Jim Gaffigan’s wife recently underwent nine hours of surgery to remove a brain tumor. Jeannie Gaffigan, who is also the comedian’s writing partner, is now recovering at home from the intensive procedure.

The comedian’s wife found out two weeks ago that she had a massive life-threatening tumor after undergoing an MRI. Jim Gaffigan announced on social media that his wife had a tumor around her brain stem. The surgical team was able to successfully remove the entire brain tumor during the lengthy surgery.

The couple have five children together. The Gaffigan family lives in New York City.

“I’m coming back! Thanks for your prayers. I’m alive,” Jeannie Gaffigan, stated on her Instagram account.

Jim Gaffigan, 50, is one of the most popular comedians in the United States,
MSN reports. Jeannie Gaffigan produces his stand-up comic television specials, co-writes the material for his routines, and also served as both a producer and a writer on her husband’s television series, The Jim Gaffigan Show.

The sitcom aired on the TV Land channel for two years. The Jim Gaffigan Show imitated the comic’s real life. The series focused on a couple raising their five children in a two-bedroom Manhattan apartment.

After learning his wife had a potentially deadly brain tumor, the comedian canceled a stand-up show scheduled in Paris for April 30, the Daily Mail reports.

https://youtu.be/6YDTfEhChgw

Jeannie and Jim Gaffigan met after she quit pursuing a master’s degree and moved to NYC to become an actress. She and the comic lived on the same block in the Nolita neighborhood, and the future couple struck up a conversation during a chance meeting at a local market.

“I knew he was in the arts community because he was in a sketch group, and I saw him perform,” Jeannie said. “I was like, ‘He’s really good.'”

Jim Gaffigan had been cast in a television show pilot just prior to meeting Jeannie. Because he needed help with his acting, Jim hired Jeannie to become his coach. The pair fell in love and got married in 2003. Jeannie said she never regretted using her acting talents to help bolster her husband’s career instead of her own.

“I’ve been able to have complete creative fulfillment in this relationship without being the front person. I’ve also been able to have five kids. [I]f I had said, ‘I need to go my own way,’ I would have taken the resources away and split the resources, instead of pooling the resources,” the comedian’s wife added. “I care more about Jim’s career, his material, more than anyone else in the world except him. We’re on the same team, and we’re going for the same thing.”

Jim Gaffigan previously said it is difficult to do stand-up comedy shows and be a good dad at the same time because of the late-night performances. The comedian said he always tries to be home when his kids are going off to sleep and takes Sundays off.

“As a parent, I try to do stuff where I’m there for the whole bedtime thing. I’ll put the younger ones to bed, go do a show and sometimes come back for the others’ bedtimes. There’s a club about five blocks from where I live,” the comic continued.

Jim and Jeannie Gaffigan attempt to schedule the stand-up shows around the school breaks of their brood. They get a huge tour bus complete with a full bathroom, kitchenette, and sleeping quarters so the family can travel together while the comedian works.

“It’s a big, rock-star, country-music-star tour bus with a bunk car that has six bunks with curtains, and they’re like little rooms. Probably more privacy than [the kids] have at home,” Jeannie Gaffigan joked.

Gaffigan recently traveled to China, Hawaii, and Japan as part of his comedy tour.

[Featured Image by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP Images]

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