in a ‘THE DOCTORS’ exclusive, ACTRESS LONI ANDERSON REVEALS DAUGHTER‘S long-term auto-immune disease thursday, may 1st

Joined By Her Daughter Deidra On The Syndicated Series,
They Discuss For the First Time Deidra’s Five-Year Secret Battle With the Disease  

Caption: (l-r) Deidra Hoffman, Loni Anderson, Dr. Rachael Ross, Dr. Travis Stork

Hollywood, April 30, 2014 – In a THE DOCTORS exclusive, actress Loni Anderson is joined by her daughter Deidra Hoffman as they reveal Deidra’s secret five-year battle with an auto-immune disease.  Anderson and her daughter visited the Emmy® Award-winning daytime syndicated series and decided to go public at this time in order to help raise awareness and funds in the search for a cure.  The special episode airs Thursday, May 1st (check your local listings).  

Best known to TV viewers for her iconic role in “WKRP in Cincinnati,” Anderson reveals to co-hosts Dr. Travis Stork and Dr. Rachael Ross that after hearing of her daughter’s diagnosis, she “fell apart.”  “Your kids are always running to you with whatever happened to them and you fix it.  I couldn’t fix this.”  She added, “There’s no cause that anyone really knows about and there’s no cure.  We thought maybe if we could just help somebody – if we just helped one person today, this would be worth it all.”  

Deidra, joined by her daughters McKenzie and Megan in the audience, also discussed with the doctors how her family copes with the illness and how the diagnosis affected her.  “I diagnosed myself years before with just stress and I had lots of symptoms that I ignored,” she says.  “I was busy. I was a mom, I worked full-time.  I didn’t have time for everything that was happening to me and the diagnosis stopped me in my tracks.”

Tune in on Thursday, May 1st for the complete interview and learn what the future holds for Loni’s daughter.  Plus, the show sheds light on a mysterious, paralyzing illness affecting children in California, and learn about a breakthrough procedure promising to relieve chronic knee pain without surgery.