Selma Blair learned she had multiple sclerosis in 2018, but her symptoms began years earlier. From a young age, Blair said that she experienced constant pain, fatigue, and mood swings. It wasn’t until she had her son, Arthur, in 2011, though, that the pain got worse. After birth, she had problems with her vision, involuntary muscle contractions in her neck, and other symptoms.
Blair was confused by how her symptoms varied based on activity and location, and with no diagnosis, she had no way to solve the issues.
For five years or so, Blair had many confusing symptoms. Her symptoms included:
- Neck pain
- Severe vertigo
- Trouble walking
- Sudden numbness in her leg
- Anxiety and depression
At the time, Blair’s doctors were claiming her symptoms were due to depression or hormones. They gave her steroid shots to combat the neck pain but did nothing more. Finally, a new doctor requested an MRI. Once that was done, a neurologist confirmed that the MRI detected 20 lesions on her brain. This led to a confirmed diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, an incurable autoimmune disease. MS affects your central nervous system, interrupting its communication to the rest of your body.
There are about 2.3 million people currently living with MS around the world. MS induces flare-ups, so there are periods where symptoms are worse and periods where you may not have symptoms.
Blair was able to start getting treatment for the mysterious condition she’d been dealing with for years. After she had hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation, the inflammation and lesions still took about a year to go down. The stem cells from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or umbilical cord blood, however, helped her go into remission.
Blair’s stem cell transplant is considered controversial, and some of her close friends see it as a risky treatment.
In addition to the therapy, Blair had to undergo intensive chemotherapy.
