“I gotta keep moving.”
So declared Selma Blair on stage at Flow Space Women’s Health Summit in Los Angeles on Oct. 9, where the actress spoke about living with multiple sclerosis and the importance of being an advocate for yourself within the medical world.
With her service dog Scout in tow, the 54-year-old “Cruel Intentions” star opened the conversation with She Media CEO Samantha Skey by discussing the role she assumed in the 2004 film “Hellboy” while she was still a student at the University of Michigan. Blair then pivoted to focus on her autoimmune disorder, which attacks the protective covering of nerves in the brain, and her experience having gone undiagnosed for years, leaving her skin inflamed.
Samantha Skey and Selma Blair
Michael Buckner
“I was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS in 2018, and it turned out I probably had juvenile MS as my first optic neuritis was when I was about 7, which left me with a lazy eye from nerve damage. But there were a lot of things missed my whole life,” Blair said.
After finally getting a proper medical diagnosis, the Hollywood star took to her Instagram to share the health update with her fans. She did this for her own survival, which, in turn, introduced her to a community of people struggling in silence with limited resources like her.
“I just put it on my Instagram to thank people on set that were helping me stay at my job, because I couldn’t use my hands well,” she explained. “I couldn’t take my clothes off. I still sometimes struggle with dystonia and speech and movement, even though I’m relapse-free right now. But when I did post that, I saw that there was a whole world that felt seen or a part of being seen or could relate to just someone having chronic health issues.”
Selma Blair at Flow Space Women’s Health Summit with her service dog, Scout.
Michael Buckner
It was unlike Blair to share her story, though, as someone who notoriously keeps to herself. Indeed, when it came to her diagnosis and addressing issues of improper care and gaslighting within medical establishments, she knew the stakes were far greater than her personal preferences.
“I realized that we do have to learn to be our own advocates,” she said. “We do not have to be compliant or polite. I don’t mean compliant, but the medical system can be very daunting; it’s not infallible, and we have to be our advocates. We do know our problems with our health, that what we’re feeling should be much stronger than the fear we have for double expressing it to a doctor.”
As for what she’d tell her younger self, who was always unsure of her own body, Blair said she’d be kind. “I would say, ‘You are not lazy. You are not crazy. Your feelings are valid,’” she continued. “I would tell little Selma, when you are ready to get an MRI, really have them do it. It’s no big deal. Insurance will pay for it. Your mom’s a judge. You’re still on her insurance.”
Blair’s appearance at Flow Space Women’s Health Summit comes just a few weeks after she was announced as a new celebrity collaborator for ESK, the Australian cosmeceutical brand she was recommended by her aesthetician at the apex of her skin inflammation.
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