Selma Blair was diagnosed with MS in 2018 — How is she doing now?
Finding out that you have a disease can cause most to panic. Many people under those circumstances typically go through feelings of doubt, sadness, and in some cases, denial. However, once you realize your new normal, learning how to live your life to the fullest extent becomes paramount — and actress Selma Blair is a shining example.
In case you’ve been MIA, Selma shared her MS aka multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2018. Since then, the now 50-year-old has been very vocal about living with the disease. In light of Selma’s Season 31 Dancing With the Stars cast announcement, fans have been yearning for a health update. Here’s everything that we know.
Selma Blair has described her experience with MS as “not as bad as she thought it would be, but also way worse” in her memoir.
Before we go into Selma’s health update, it’s important to share what MS actually is. According to Mayo Clinic, MS “is a potentially disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system).”
The disease is said to affect how the brain and nerves in your body communicate. As a result, issues with mobility can surface along with symptoms that include brain fog, tremors, nerve pain, vision problems, and more.
Selma first announced to the world that she was diagnosed with MS on October 20, 2018, on Instagram. Since then, the actress has been very open about living with the disease via social media and has even shared her new normal in the May 2022 memoir, Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up.
“Living with MS is not as bad as I thought it would be. It’s also way worse,” Selma wrote in her memoir via The Guardian. “My particular experience with this disease is that it has affected every inch of my body, from scalp to marrow. If I stand up too quickly, I fall. If I’m triggered by anything where I don’t know the outcome, I can’t speak. I sweat through my clothes, but I’m freezing.”
Selma continued, “If I don’t take my meds, I cannot feel my body. I don’t know if I’m sopping wet or getting frostbite. Without my meds, I also lose the ability to speak. When I’m in a flare, I sound like a tantrum-throwing toddler, distraught and gasping for breath. I sometimes choke when I eat. I am sometimes incontinent.”
Selma also shared that while her symptoms often come and go, she sometimes has to use a cane to get around. However, Selma’s determined to live her life on her own terms.
It’s no secret that living with MS comes with its share of challenges, but Selma being open about her journey with the disease shows how far perseverance can take you.
Why does Selma Blair have a cane?
At the 2022 Emmys, Selma graced the stage to present the Outstanding Drama Series winner wearing a stunning dress and using a matching cane. That cane is directly related to her health, but it has also become an important part of her life.
She told Harper’s Bazaar the cane is her “dance partner,” and that it has helped her emotionally just as much as physically since her 2018 diagnosis.
She said: “Movement has been so important to me my whole life. I was a gymnast. I always wanted to be a dancer, but I never had any talent, never even took a lesson, and then to have my movement compromised… then I found the cane and realized how much I could work around it and how much coordination I still had, despite certain glitches. That freed me up so much.”
