Seven years ago, actress Selma Blair was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, but it took a female doctor to make real headway in her healing process. Last year, Selma revealed she fell into a major relapse following a stem cell transplant, but is now relapse-free, she shared during a panel on Monday at the second annual Women’s Health Lab in partnership with Northwell Health’s Katz Institute for Women’s Health. “I did not give up and, ultimately in the last few years, I found a new doctor,” she said.
Selma felt like that new provider—her first female doctor—really listened to her needs and gave her a voice. She took a holistic view when treating Selma, and took into account the fact that the 52-year-old actress had gone through early menopause. “It really did change my life completely,” Selma said of her experience with her new doctor. “We found a way to manage my MS and I am doing really, really well right now.”
Of course, several other important women in Selma’s life have also helped her throughout her MS journey: Sarah Michelle Gellar and some of her other ‘90s co-stars brought her meals for a full year after her diagnosis in 2018.
Selma can now pinpoint early MS symptoms to when she was about seven years old. But because she is a woman, Selma felt like those symptoms weren’t taken seriously at first. They were always chalked up to something else, like her period or having a baby. “Maybe because I was a girl, I didn’t get an MRI, because I had a boy friend that had the same issues, and he was given an MRI within five minutes,” Selma said later on in the panel. “It took me 30 years to get an MRI. […] I was treated my whole life for being sick, but [everyone told me] it was all in my head.”
After finally being diagnosed (Selma joked that her neurological condition turned out to literally be “all in her head”), she “gave in to joy,” because she finally knew what was happening in her body. “The diagnosis was like, ‘Oh, okay. This is a second chance,’” Selma said.
The actress also pointed out that MS “really is so different for everyone,” but she’s been doing her best to be an advocate and help others on their journeys. Specifically, she’s been educating others about the physical, social, and emotional fatigue that comes with the disease. Even in her own life, Selma has had to learn how to draw boundaries if she wants to balance her health with career goals. “There is rest, that has to happen. I work hard and sleep hard,” she said.
Looking back, Selma said she used to be “always afraid” in life, which she thinks might have impacted her health. So now, she’s doing her best to move forward in as healthy a way as possible. “It’s a time of more joy and recovery,” she said. “Things have changed.”
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