Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Selma Blair says she's in remission from multiple sclerosis as a result of undergoing a stem cell transplant.
The 49-year-old actor, best known for such movies as "Cruel Intentions," "Legally Blonde" and "Hellboy," was diagnosed with the disease in 2018.
"My prognosis is great. I'm in remission," Blair told a Television Critics Association panel on Monday.
She underwent hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation which uses stem cells derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood or umbilical cord blood.
"It took about a year after stem cell for the inflammation and lesions to really go down, so I was reluctant to talk about it because I felt this need to be more healed," she said. "I don't have any new lesions forming."
According to the Mayo Clinic, multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the protective myelin sheath that covers nerve fibers. It can cause vision loss, pain, fatigue and impaired coordination. Its cause is unknown.
"There's still maintenance, treatment and glitches, and wonderful things," said Blair, who at times spoke in a halting voice on Zoom.
"Cognitively, I'm very changed and that's been the harder part," she added.
The actor reveals her fight with MS in "Introducing, Selma Blair," an intimate documentary directed by Rachel Fleit. It debuts Oct. 15 in theaters and begins streaming Oct. 21 on Discovery+.
"Selma was ready to tell this story in all of its honesty and rawness and truth," Fleit said. "She had a few medical emergencies during filming. When she was like, `Yes, show it all,' I was like, `This is extraordinary."'
Last week, actor Christina Applegate, who is the same age as Blair, revealed her own MS diagnosis.
Blair said she had been experiencing symptoms for years before she was officially diagnosed.
"I've been carrying around some sort of chronic illness, either building up or had for a long time, so it wasn't a surprise to me," she said. "Just the name was a surprise."
Blair is a single mother to her 10-year-old son, Arthur, whom she credits as the source of her strength. Her mother, Molly Ann Cooke, died in May 2020 at age 82. Blair was unable to visit her in her home state of Michigan because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"I really do feel now, with this pandemic, we've all gotten a kind of diagnosis that's incurable. It's called living right now," she said. "Everyone has really realized our mortality. It taught me a lot more patience and understanding."
At times, Blair said, she wishes she could go home to Michigan and recover quietly. But she also relishes her ability to raise awareness and provide encouragement to others.
"I never really liked life, I do now. Strange, huh?" she said. "I was so scared in life, so to suddenly start to find an identity and a safety in me, and figure out boundaries and time management and energy, I'm having the time of my life."
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.