It's been nearly a year since Selma Blair was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, but she continues to fight it, doing whatever she has to do and taking on whatever she needs to take on to try and treat her symptoms of intense pain and the physical difficulties that come with MS.Blair attended the TIME 100 Health Summit in New York City on Thursday and gave the audience an update on where she's at. "The disease modifiers did not work for me at the time, and I was really declining more rapidly than I found acceptable," said the 47-year-old mother, according to
People magazine. With no options left, it was suggested that she get a stem cell transplant in combination with an "aggressive" course of chemotherapy to restart her immune system. But that's scary stuff, and Selma was understandably nervous. "I had no intention of doing it, I was like, I'm not ruining my body, what's left of it. Why would I put this horrible drug, chemotherapy, in me? I don't have cancer." But Selma was desperate and gave it a shot. Literally.Blair revealed she was given a "microdose" of chemo right before her stem cell transplant. The result was positive and she "immediately felt some relief." That was enough to convince her to go all the way with it, even though it's a risky procedure. "I was warned. You kind of make your plans for death, [and] I told my son I was doing this and he said he wanted me cremated," she recalled. "I had more chemo than they usually do for cancer patients, because they almost kill you. And it's the stem cell that allows you to live with that amount of chemo. The chemo is the MS cure, if it does in fact happen."
The actress says "overall, it went pretty smoothly" and she is still recovering. But, hey, she's recovering. That's already a win."I haven't talked about it much yet because I wanted to show everyone that the proof is in the pudding, but my pudding is still kind of scrambled," she explained. "I don't want to scare people away."Selma, who has been opening with her diagnosis from the beginning, also spoke of her hair loss and it growing back but it's the least of her worries. "I never minded hair loss or any of those things that were about ego," she said. "My dream was just to lie next to my son at night and be there as long as I can."Selma is a single mom to son Arthur, who may be the most mature eight-year-old around. The kid's had to grow up fast and
"endure a lot" and Selma is doing everything she has to do to be there for him as long as possible. It's also commendable that Blair and Arthur's dad, Jason Bleick, share a co-parenting relationship that should serve as a model for all exes with children.As for Selma, it would be incredible if this extreme treatment is what gets her to a place where she isn't in constant pain. It was this past February that Blair was told she could
"regain 90 per cent of her abilities in a year's time." Hopefully, in the next few months, she'll be updating us with her progress and, in turn, getting more time to spend with her beloved boy.
[video_embed id='1646038']The celebrity illnesses making headlines that everyone can learn from[/video_embed]