Selma Blair took to Instagram on Saturday to share an emotional update about her health: In August, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The actor credited her new role on the upcoming Netflix series Another Life with her decision to share her diagnosis.
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“I was in this wardrobe fitting two days ago. And I am in the deepest gratitude. So profound it is, I have decided to share,” Blair wrote. “The brilliant costumer #Allisaswanson not only designs the pieces #harperglass will wear on this new #Netflix show, but she carefully gets my legs in my pants, pulls my tops over my head, buttons my coats and offers her shoulder to steady myself.”
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Blair went on to clarify, “I have #multiplesclerosis. I am in an exacerbation. By the grace of the lord, and will power and the understanding producers at Netflix, I have a job. A wonderful job. I am disabled. I fall sometimes. I drop things. My memory is foggy. And my left side is asking for directions from a broken gps. But we are doing it.”
She revealed that her exact diagnosis time was 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 16 and that she received it from Dr. Jason Berkley, the brother of actress Elizabeth Berkley (of Saved By the Bell fame).
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In addition to thanking Elizabeth for pressuring her to seek help, Blair thanked famous friends Jaime King, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Tara Subkoff for being constant sources of support in the time since she learned of her MS.
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In sharing her news, Blair wrote, she hoped to provide a source of hope and comfort for other people who may have been recently diagnosed.
“You can’t get help unless you ask. It can be overwhelming in the beginning. You want to sleep. You always want to sleep… But I am a forthcoming person and I want my life to be full somehow. I want to play with my son again. I want to walk down the street and ride my horse. I have MS and I am ok. But if you see me, dropping crap all over the street, feel free to help me pick it up. It takes a whole day for me alone. Thank you and may we all know good days among the challenges,” she wrote.
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In closing, Blair speculated that she likely had this disease, undiagnosed, for 15 years.
According to the National MS Society, multiple sclerosis is a “chronic, unpredictable disease of the central nervous system” that is thought to be immune-mediated (the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks healthy CNS tissue).
Although there is no cure for MS, treatment has improved greatly in recent years, and the outlook for people with MS is much better than it once was.
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