Selma Blair continues to be brave in the face of illness — as she shares the realities of battling MS with absolute honesty.
The Cruel Intentions actress took to Instagram three days in a row, starting on Tuesday, July 30, to show fans how her current multiple sclerosis treatments — which included chemotherapy and resulted in hair loss and her shaved head — have been affecting her.
On Tuesday, July 30, the 47-year-old star posted a playful selfie of herself wearing glasses and a blanket over her head, featuring a prominent mark on her forehead. “I have had this scab on my head for two months. It stands out to me as much as my newly bald head,” she wrote in her caption. “I don’t mind it. I don’t mind the hair loss either. But if my eyebrows totally fall out, I am gonna be singing a different tune.”
While that sentiment was humorous and optimistic, her next Instagram post got into darker territory. “Insomnia. I am like a waking baby. Afraid and want to cry. I want my mom. I do,” she captioned a photo she took of her bruised legs in a bathtub and posted the next day. “I will take a bath. And cry. The beginning is hard. I have to Remember.”
The week prior, Blair — who revealed she had been diagnosed with the degenerative disease in October 2008 — shared that she had just finished in-patient care that would leave her “immunocompromised for next three months at least.” But she also noted that the treatment was a turning point for her: “For now, I have recovery.”
By Thursday, August 1, the Michigan native was once again counting her blessings with a reflective post. “It is darkest before the dawn, I have always heard. And I keep it in mind. And I still get overwhelmed in the chaos of the dark,” she wrote on a close-up selfie of herself with her 8-year-old son, Arthur. Blair then expressed gratitude for her supportive fans. “I am so deeply moved at how many people called or wrote or left comments after my last post. The old me was ashamed. Ashamed to be so transparent with vulnerability or fear. And I wanted to delete the image. The heart bruised words,” she wrote. “But you all changed that with your words of support. I was humbled.”
Blair ended her post by sharing she now had the strength and support she needed to move forward. “Thank you universe. I will get there. Have patience. Thank you. All of us. Be gentle. With ourselves and others. It is a wonderful feeling. Thank you to everyone here and in my life who did that for me the last few days. I can do this now.”
