Selma Blair, 48, Has Had Challenging Holidays But Remains Grateful
- Actress Selma Blair has been struggling to stay awake and control her tears during this lonely and “quiet Christmas” as she mourns her mother’s recent passing and continues her MS fight.
- Blair was diagnosed with MS in 2018 and has been fighting the disease ever since, even undergoing chemotherapy to treat the condition.
- Getting through the holidays while you’re fighting a serious illness can be challenging, but focusing on healing and relying on positive family support can make all the difference.
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2020 has been a difficult year for Blair: her mother passed away in May, the pandemic upended all of our lives, and she’s continuing her difficult battle against multiple sclerosis (MS), a neurological condition where your immune system attacks your nerves and disrupts communication.
Blair has had a difficult treatment path: in August 2019, she began chemotherapy. Most people associate chemo with cancer, but it can also be effective at destroying the cells that cause nerve damage in people with MS. Blair’s chemo resulted in a number of side effects, including vision effects.
Related: Managing Chemotherapy Side Effects
But through it all, she’s remained grateful for the love and support her fans have showed her, ending her message by with humble thanks to the healthcare workers and essential personnel who’ve kept the world running during the pandemic.
Illness During the Holidays
For many survivors and people currently fighting cancer and other long-term illnesses, the magic of the holidays can be complicated by the difficult realities of fighting for your health and staying close to your loved ones.
This holiday season, Selma also had to deal with her mother’s recent death and the huge changes COVID-19 has forced on every aspect on life. But through it, she’s found joy.
Staying positive and focusing on your healing can be a godsend during the sometimes uncomfortable or isolating holiday experiences.
"My advice to others is to stay focused," Karen Ballou, a Hogkin lymphoma survivor, previously told SurvivorNet. "Stay focused … think about one thing in your life or two things in your life that you can see when you're well, that you want to go after. And you want to follow through with. That's what got me through the holidays."
Think of the Positive Things: Karen Ballou on Facing Cancer During the Holidays
For many people like Blair facing serious health challenges like cancer, familial love and support help them stay positive in the face of daunting medical challenges and inspires them to fight on.
Beverly Reeves, an ovarian cancer survivor, told SurvivorNet that her family, along with support from friends and faith groups, helped her get through treatment. She tells people going through difficult health battles to stay connected to their loved ones and the critical support they offer.
'Faith, Family, and Friends' Helped Beverly Reeves Get Through Ovarian Cancer Treatment
Staying Positive During Health Battles
Whether it’s MS or cancer, facing a serious health challenge can shake you to your core, throwing everything you thought you knew into question. As hard as it is, staying positive and finding joy in the little things is more important now than ever.
Related: Stay Positive, It Matters
“I am just breaking down. So there's a truth to give to anyone else feeling this way. It's just miserable. And scary. To feel unwell. I am so sorry,” Blair wrote in a heartbreaking Instagram post. “I want to recover.”
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But mixed in with these heartfelt pleas is true joy: literally dancing through the pain of chemotherapy, finding a sisterhood of support with Shannon Doherty and Sarah Michelle Gellar, and even getting back to her long-time passion of horseback riding.
Having a positive outlook and support system like Blair’s benefits more than just the heart it can actually help patients live longer.
Dr. Zuri Murrell, a colorectal surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, told SurvivorNet in a previous interview that he’s “pretty good at telling what kind of patients are going to live the longest, even with bad, bad disease. And those are patients who have gratitude in life."
Dr. Zuri Murrell tells people facing cancer to stay positive – it really does matter
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