Actress Selma Blair, 49, Says She’s In Remission From Multiple Sclerosis Following Chemo, Stem Cell Transplant: ‘My Prognosis is Great’

"My prognosis is great. I’m in remission. Stem cell put me in remission. It took about a year after stem cell for the inflammation and lesions to really go down.”

Blair had been feeling better for a few months but waited to go public with the information saying, “I was reluctant to talk about it because I felt this need to be more healed and more fixed. I’ve accrued a lifetime of some baggage in the brain that still needs a little sorting out or accepting. That took me a minute to get to that acceptance. It doesn’t look like this for everyone.” Blair made the announcement while appearing virtually at the discovery+ TCA panel Monday in support of her upcoming documentary.

Blair was diagnosed with MS in 2018, a disease in which the immune system eats away at the protective covering of the body's nerves. MS essentially disrupts communication between the brain and the body with symptoms such as vision loss, pain, fatigue, and impaired coordination. In a 2018 post discussing her illness, she wrote candidly: "I have multiple sclerosis. I am in an exacerbation…I am disabled…”

Her new documentary, Introducing, Selma Blair, details her battle with MS and presents her struggles with a raw and intimate lens.

“To hear even just me showing up with a cane or sharing something that might be embarrassing, it was a key for a lot of people in finding comfort in themselves and that means everything to me,” Blair said. “I’m thrilled that I have some platform. In no means am I saying that I’m speaking for all people in this condition or any condition of chronic illness, I’m speaking my story and I that helps normalize one thing to open the door for other people to be comfortable in telling their stories. I’m thrilled to have this here.”

Introducing, Selma Blair will be in theatres on October 15 and will be available to stream on Discovery+ on October 21.

What to Know About Chemotherapy Side Effects

Blair has used chemo to treat her MS. This type of treatment often used to treat cancer, has some well-known side effects, such as hair loss. Other side effects of this treatment can include pain, nausea and vomiting, constipation, loss of appetite, and various nervous system effects. For pain management and appetite stimulation, some people chose to use medical marijuana during their chemotherapy.

Thankfully, as a result of newer technologies, some of these negative side effects can be somewhat mitigated. Cooling caps can be used to reduce hair loss that some people experience as a result of chemotherapy.

If you’re experiencing hair loss due to chemo and its negatively impacting your emotional or mental health, speak with your oncologist about options available to you, like cooling caps or wigs.

Not Your Parents' Chemotherapy: New Solutions for Nausea, Hair Loss, and Other Chemo Side Effects During Ovarian Cancer Treatment

Contributing: Anne McCarthy, Chris Spargo

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