Last October, Selma Blair revealed that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis two months earlier. This was after years of meeting with various doctors and getting nowhere until Selma went to see Dr. Jason Berkley, the brother of her friend Elizabeth Berkley. Selma’s Instagram post detailed some of the ways that living with MS had begun to impact her: “I fall sometimes. I drop things. My memory is foggy. And my left side is asking for directions from a broken gps.” She explained that Allisa Swanson, the costume designer on her Netflix series, Another Life, helped her get dressed. A few months later, Hecate wrote about the support that Selma has been getting from her friends following her diagnosis.
Selma is also getting help from Arthur, her 7-year-old son. On Friday, she shared a sweet picture of Aurthur helping her cut her hair:
People shared Selma’s Instagram post along with a story about the bond between her and Arthur:
Blair’s son has been her rock over the years, after she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis back in August 2018. She went public with her diagnosis months later in October, and has since revealed she can no longer lift her arms long enough to brush her hair.
In February, Blair told Good Morning America that her son took the news of her diagnosis particularly hard.
“After the MRI, I said, ‘I have something called multiple sclerosis,’ and he almost cried and said, ‘Will it kill you?’ ” the mother of one told Robin Roberts.
“And I said, ‘No. I mean, we never know what kills us, Arthur. But this is not the doctor telling me I’m dying,’” she recalled. “And he was like, ‘Oh. Okay!’”
I can’t imagine what it’s like to have to tell your child that you are living with a disease, and then to have him immediately (understandably) ask whether you are going to die. It sounds like Arthur was reassured during their conversation, and I’m so glad for both of them. My guess is that Selma has buzzed her hair with Arthur’s help because it makes caring for her hair easier. (The weather is also getting warmer, so that might be a factor, too.) According to People, Selma brought Arthur in May to the Race to End MS gala. I think it’s great for them both that Selma talks with Arthur about having MS, and that she lets him help her out in ways that he’s able to. It allows him to understand something of her experiences with MS, and in ways that he can grasp.
Here’s Selma last month on her walking bike. She wrote about it here on Instagram.
photos credit: Backgrid and Getty
I started following Selma not too long ago on Instagram. Her account is heartbreaking and inspiring. I don’t know what I’d do if just a few years from now I was her age, living with MS, having to tell my kids. She has a horse and she loves him, and she was riding him a year ago, but can’t anymore. I am a lifelong horse lover as well. Wishing her healing and strength.
My mum has Ms, she had the diagnosis when I was a kid, at the time I didn’t understand what that meant. I remember seeing her tired all the times, because that b#@!h makes you feel exhausted, and I felt like I always had to help, like I didn’t have the right to make the buzz all the children do, because mum was sick. I learned to cook very young because my mum dropped things…
Lucky for her she has the possibility to have all the help she needs. Because ms takes a tool on the family too.
Her son is a cutie, what a sweet boy to help his mom like that. The only think worse than revealing a tough diagnosis to my kids would be having to tell my mom. My sister and i have talked about how we would likely hide any bad diagnoses from her because of how anxious she is.
Anyway. Hoping Selma continues to fight and can find treatments that help her live life as fully as possible.
Her son is young, but I think it’s better for Selma to come clean about her diagnosis than to have to make up little lies. Kids are smart about these things-they know. I also think that giving her son an understanding of her disease and what she has to face will encourage him to help out when he can and will ultimately encourage him to become a more compassionate person (not a “butthole”-that’s hilarious!)
I am so amazed by her strength and dignity and openness in the face of such a hard disease. I’ve watched this disease rob the body and mind of a dear friend of mine for years. People often have no idea what one goes through with this, and she does a great service by sharing so openly.
I must say though, I hope it’s just bad wording on the part of the People article, but your child should never be “your rock”. Been there: being the rock for your parent is scary, stressful, and psychologically backwards. No child is up for being the main support for an adult, especially one who has such challenges as this. That’s way too much to put on any child.
Yes, re: “your rock.” I was hoping that it’s turgid drivel concocted by the writer of the piece. As one who was forced to be a “piedra” (or should I say, dumping bin for problems?) for both my parents, I agree with you. It’s too much for a child to take on serious adult matters. I think it’s good that she keeps him involved and in the loop, because you can’t lie to children–they always know. And it’s her reality and to shut out the little boy and pretend otherwise is not healthy. But not to be the rock for a parent. That is not good.
I’m glad you said this. I thought it was mean of me to think it. But I realized when I read your comment that my old scars from back then were clouding my judgement now.
She could also mean he’s what grounds her. When it all gets overwhelming, she remembers that he’s there, and it pulls it all back into perspective for her.
My daughter reacted the same way when I was diagnosed with sarcoidosis, she was nine years old. It was very stressful, especially because my symptoms screamed advanced aggressive lymphoma. It seemed like it would be a breeze because it’s not cancer, but try telling that to my kiddo when I had to spend 6 days in the hospital, three in ICU, when I got pneumonia. I’ve always liked Selma, this is just another reason to like her even more.
I have MS. I was diagnosed almost five years ago after I lost vision in one eye- my MS us relapsing remitting Like Selma’s. I have very mixed feelings about what Selma says about Ms. on the one hand obviously I feel for her and admire her struggle which is very real. However, MS is not the same disease it once was. There are break through treatments for it now. My Ms is very controlled with medicine and care. I work full time as an attorney (owner in a large firm) and I have four children. My MS is an issue but I manage it as do many many others and we battle misperceptions such as the ones expressed in these comments that Ms is a debilitating disease. It can be. But it can also managed and you can live a full life. It’s complicated for sure but it’s hard to have to hide your disease bc of people think you have it they immediate think you can’t be a high level profession. Many of us in the Ms community feel this way and the concern we have about this kind of awareness.
I’m glad you have an active life. It sounds like you are in a ‘best case scenario’ situation, which as you know, doesn’t apply to everyone. I think Selma is doing a great job bringing awareness to MS. Its a very difficult disease to diagnose, and from what I understand, early diagnosis is beneficial. Please don’t think I’m criticizing you because I get where you are coming from. I have a brother with a degenerate neuromuscular disease, not too different from MS. He feels very much like you and refuses any special treatment until he absolutely needs it. He doesn’t want to be defined by the state of his health. I wish you continued good health and success.
Thanks for your thoughtful response. Yes, I would say I have a best case scenario but I am far from alone. Huge numbers of people with MS diagnosed in the last five to ten years are able to live relatively symptom free. As my neurologist says, with the new classes of medicines, MS is not the disease it once was. Where it used to mean you were almost certainly disabled fully in 10 years, now it likely means you will have a chronic but controlled disease for the rest of your life. Time of diagnosis matters a great deal- my father was diagnosed 20 years ago and he is very disabled. While I appreciate Selma’s perspective, she is newly diagnosed- the diagnosis throws everyone for a huge curve and it usually takes a year or so to stabilize both physically and mentally. It’s not her fault she is a de facto spokesperson for our disease as she gets a lot of attention as a celebrity. And that attention is a huge double edged sword to the Ms community bc she is one person, not everyone with Ms. that being said, she is entitled to her voice, and her disease sounds very aggressive so I certainly hope her doctors can find the right treatment for her.
Angie …. thanks so much for your comment. One of the things I love about this “gossip” site is the comments. What an interesting perspective. It really highlights how everyone is so truly unique and different. Illnesses also. Awareness of how we are all unique humans is just so, so important. You can’t truly every understand someone else’s version of life. XO And even though people struggle with the “same” problem … not all the issues are exactly alike.
Thank you. ❤️
I have such a soft spot for Selma. I just watched her in the movie After, and she was so good.
I thought the same thing.
Perhaps what is meant by it is that he is her “rock” in the sense that he is her purpose, her reason, her motivation to keep going. He doesnt’ have to know he is, but she can feel he is.
I wish I had read your comment before I commented because I said something similar.
This makes me so sad. I had a lover with MS – i loving schoolteacher whose memory was ravaged – , and in middle school my friend’s mom had it as well (my parents always thought she was a drunk due to her slurred speech, odd movements, and falls). I mean, a lot of diseases are hard to watch, but the unpredictability of this one was especially hard. There were such a variety of symptoms, and so many good days interspersed with terrible ones.