Selma
Blair Beitner was born on June 23, 1972, in Southfield, in the
metropolitan area of Detroit, Michigan, the youngest of four daughters
of Judge Molly Ann (née Cooke) and Elliot I. Beitner.
She’s a fighter. After being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis following an MRI back in August 2018, the 46-year-old actress has been incredibly open about her battle with the debilitating disease.
Blair made her first red carpet appearance at the 2019 Oscar, where she relied on a customized patent leather cane for support (and yes, she looked absolutely stunning). Blair spoke candidly about her experience with MS on camera for the first time and revealed how difficult it was for doctors to accurately diagnose her condition.
“I had tears,” she said. “They weren’t tears of panic, they were tears of knowing that I now had to give in to a body that had loss of control and there was some relief in that.”
And in an interview with Vanity Fair for the March 2019 issue, Blair shares that her MS diagnosis has only made her stronger and given her a new voice. “There’s no tragedy for me,” she said. “I’m happy, and if I can help anyone be more comfortable in their skin, it’s more than I’ve ever done before.”
In October 2018, Blair revealed that she was diagnosed with MS in a heartbreaking Instagram post. She detailed all of the scary symptoms she was dealing with, and explained how she finally figured out what was going on with her body after 15 years of living with the condition.
“I have #multiplesclerosis. I am in an exacerbation,” she wrote. “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. And I laugh and I don’t know exactly what I will do precisely but I will do my best.”
Blair says she was diagnosed with MS on the night of August 16 and had been leaning on her pals—including Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze, and Jaime King—for their support. She was inspired to share her story after a “profound” moment of “deepest gratitude,” when the costumer on the set of her upcoming Netflix show Another Life lovingly helped her get dressed. She hoped that her admission would help “give some hope to others” and even herself.
“You can’t get help unless you ask. It can be overwhelming in the beginning. You want to sleep. You always want to sleep. So I don’t have answers. You see, I want to sleep,” she writes. “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 amongst the challenges.”
When Blair’s symptoms became too much to bear, her friend, actress Elizabeth Berkley, urged her to make an appointment with her brother, neurologist Jason A. Berkley, DO. Dr. Berkley found 20 lesions after doing an MRI. “I have had symptoms for years but was never taken seriously until I fell down in front of him trying to sort out what I thought was a pinched nerve,” she continued. “I have probably had this incurable disease for 15 years at least. And I am relieved to at least know.”
She has continued to rely on using a cane for support. The patent leather cane was customized with her monogram and a pink diamond. Blair was so overwhelmed by the support that she couldn’t hold back a few tears during her appearance.
Because your speech patterns are controlled by your brain, MS can lead to slurring, abnormally long pauses, disrupted speech patterns, and nasal speech (causing one to sound like they have a cold). On Good Morning America, Blair revealed she was dealing with spasmodic dysphonia, a neurological disorder that impacts the voice muscles in a person’s larynx (aka, the voice box), according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Blair said she was in the midst of an MS flare, meaning her symptoms are worse than usual. “So my speech, I have spasmodic dysphonia right now,” she said. “It is interesting to be here to say this is what my particular case looks like right now.”
Due to the disabling nature of MS, emotional changes are very common. People diagnosed with the disease may deal with heavy stress, depression, irritability, and generalized anxiety. In January, Blair posted a photo on Instagram revealing she was dealing with just that. “There is a truth with neurodegenerative brain disease. It is uncomfortable. It is a stadium of uncontrollable anxiety at times. Going out, being sociable holds a heavy price. My brain is on fire,” she wrote.
In her Good Morning America interview, Blair delved into the emotional toll further. “Ever since my son was born, I was in an MS flare-up and didn’t know, and I was giving it everything to seem normal,” she said. “And I was self-medicating when he wasn’t with me. I was drinking. I was in pain. I wasn’t always drinking, but there were times when I couldn’t take it.”
Still, Blair fights on—and holds on to hope. “I am in the thick of it but I hope to give some hope to others. And even to myself. You can’t get help unless you ask.”
She’s a fighter. After being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis following an MRI back in August 2018, the 46-year-old actress has been incredibly open about her battle with the debilitating disease.
Blair made her first red carpet appearance at the 2019 Oscar, where she relied on a customized patent leather cane for support (and yes, she looked absolutely stunning). Blair spoke candidly about her experience with MS on camera for the first time and revealed how difficult it was for doctors to accurately diagnose her condition.
“I had tears,” she said. “They weren’t tears of panic, they were tears of knowing that I now had to give in to a body that had loss of control and there was some relief in that.”
And in an interview with Vanity Fair for the March 2019 issue, Blair shares that her MS diagnosis has only made her stronger and given her a new voice. “There’s no tragedy for me,” she said. “I’m happy, and if I can help anyone be more comfortable in their skin, it’s more than I’ve ever done before.”
In October 2018, Blair revealed that she was diagnosed with MS in a heartbreaking Instagram post. She detailed all of the scary symptoms she was dealing with, and explained how she finally figured out what was going on with her body after 15 years of living with the condition.
“I have #multiplesclerosis. I am in an exacerbation,” she wrote. “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. And I laugh and I don’t know exactly what I will do precisely but I will do my best.”
Blair says she was diagnosed with MS on the night of August 16 and had been leaning on her pals—including Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze, and Jaime King—for their support. She was inspired to share her story after a “profound” moment of “deepest gratitude,” when the costumer on the set of her upcoming Netflix show Another Life lovingly helped her get dressed. She hoped that her admission would help “give some hope to others” and even herself.
“You can’t get help unless you ask. It can be overwhelming in the beginning. You want to sleep. You always want to sleep. So I don’t have answers. You see, I want to sleep,” she writes. “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 amongst the challenges.”
When Blair’s symptoms became too much to bear, her friend, actress Elizabeth Berkley, urged her to make an appointment with her brother, neurologist Jason A. Berkley, DO. Dr. Berkley found 20 lesions after doing an MRI. “I have had symptoms for years but was never taken seriously until I fell down in front of him trying to sort out what I thought was a pinched nerve,” she continued. “I have probably had this incurable disease for 15 years at least. And I am relieved to at least know.”
She has continued to rely on using a cane for support. The patent leather cane was customized with her monogram and a pink diamond. Blair was so overwhelmed by the support that she couldn’t hold back a few tears during her appearance.
Because your speech patterns are controlled by your brain, MS can lead to slurring, abnormally long pauses, disrupted speech patterns, and nasal speech (causing one to sound like they have a cold). On Good Morning America, Blair revealed she was dealing with spasmodic dysphonia, a neurological disorder that impacts the voice muscles in a person’s larynx (aka, the voice box), according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Blair said she was in the midst of an MS flare, meaning her symptoms are worse than usual. “So my speech, I have spasmodic dysphonia right now,” she said. “It is interesting to be here to say this is what my particular case looks like right now.”
Due to the disabling nature of MS, emotional changes are very common. People diagnosed with the disease may deal with heavy stress, depression, irritability, and generalized anxiety. In January, Blair posted a photo on Instagram revealing she was dealing with just that. “There is a truth with neurodegenerative brain disease. It is uncomfortable. It is a stadium of uncontrollable anxiety at times. Going out, being sociable holds a heavy price. My brain is on fire,” she wrote.
In her Good Morning America interview, Blair delved into the emotional toll further. “Ever since my son was born, I was in an MS flare-up and didn’t know, and I was giving it everything to seem normal,” she said. “And I was self-medicating when he wasn’t with me. I was drinking. I was in pain. I wasn’t always drinking, but there were times when I couldn’t take it.”
Still, Blair fights on—and holds on to hope. “I am in the thick of it but I hope to give some hope to others. And even to myself. You can’t get help unless you ask.”
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