The media often makes it difficult to see past the seemingly picture-perfect lifestyles of celebrities. However, celebrities are people just like us, and this means that they too suffer from chronic illnesses.
Sick celebrities fear judgment and scrutiny from paparazzi because of their conditions. Many feel that announcing their illness to the public will let their fans down in a way. No celebrity wants to bring pain to their fans by letting them know that they are sick, but as the years have gone by female celebrities have realized that that being honest with fans is extremely important.
Some stars have embraced the public platform in order to raise awareness. Some chronic illnesses that celebrities are facing haven’t been pushed to the forefront of medical research, so by coming out about their disease, they hope that the medical field will step up and try to find new treatments and cures.
One celebrity who has recently been been questioned about the severity of her illness is former model and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Yolanda Foster. Foster, known for her appreciation of nature, being the peacemaker of her friend group, and also being a health-conscious mother and wife, was diagnosed with chronic Lyme’s Disease in 2012. This was just one year after marrying her second husband, legendary musician, producer and composer David Foster. Viewers of RHOBH were shocked to see this once active, fun loving, and intelligent woman bedridden, unable to tend to her gardens, read, write, or watch television. The illness was crippling her brain function.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Lyme’s Disease is a bacterial infection caused by contact with ticks. Early symptoms of Lyme’s Disease include: headache, stiff neck, joint pain, muscle ache, swollen glands, etc. If gone untreated for an extended period of time, potentially due to the unawareness that you have contracted the disease, can lead to more severe problems such as skin rash, arthritis, heart problems, and what Yolanda contracted: severe fatigue and neurological problems including memory loss, difficulty concentrating and processing information, weakness in limbs, and changes in sleep habits.
As Yolanda Foster has pointed out on her reality show many times, through Lyme’s Disease research, experts have found many factors linked to the disease that can increase symptoms such as metal levels in the blood (Foster has since removed all metal in her mouth from dental work in years past.) Real Housewives viewers learned that Foster had a port inserted that distributed medicine in hopes that it would help treat her disease, but unfortunately had to have it removed. Foster had a terrible parasite infection and discovered that one of her breast implants was leaking silicon into her chest. Upon her explant surgery, doctors found that the leakage had spread to her clavicle, which they believe has caused her severe pain and suffering. Yolanda has compared her healthy journey to being a detective and trying to find all the missing elements that can lead her to becoming healthy again. Foster has even traveled to multiple Asian countries to receive stem cell treatments for her Lyme’s disease. Foster continues to suffer from the disease today, but she is determined not to give up, especially because the disease is now affecting two out of her three children. Foster’s daughter, model Bella Hadid and son Anwar have been diagnosed as well and are seeking treatment. We can only hope for the best for Yolanda and her children in the future.
Another TV personality, best known for her role as Meadow Soprano on the hit show The Sopranos, Jamie-Lynn Sigler recently announced that she has been suffering from Multiple Sclerosis for fifteen years. Sigler explained news stations and talk shows such as “Dr. Oz” that she took the advice of a fellow actor in the industry who advised her that if she didn’t feel or look sick that it was best to keep her illness a secret to avoid premature judgment and the risk of degrading her appeal to potential employers. Jamie-Lynn took the advice, but then once symptoms started to worsen in 2005, she decided to confide in her cast mates on the “Sopranos” what she had already been hiding for years. Now a wife and mother of 2-year-old son Beau, Sigler is choosing to come forward and face her fears partly because she is tired of living in a state of denial. Now that she has fully accepted her illness, she also doesn’t want her two year old son living in a household that tolerates keeping secrets.
According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating disease that attacks the myelin in the body, which is the protective layer over the spinal chord and brain. The damaged myelin forms scar tissue, which is called “sclerosis,” and because the myelin is damaged, the nerve signals that travel to the spinal chord and brain are interrupted, which results in severe pain and several others symptoms.
MS symptoms can be relieved by a variety of medications, which Jamie-Lynn Sigler has utilized. She also says that eating a clean diet is something that has helped her tremendously.
Sigler, now accepting what has been happening to her body for a decade and a half, hopes that she can bring awareness to this disease and in turn show her son the importance of being strong and accepting what comes your way by tackling it in the best way possible.
Celebrities Yolanda Foster and Jamie-Lynn Sigler are just two of the many women in Hollywood who have gone public about their chronic illnesses. It has relieved them of the stress of keeping a secret and has proved to their fans and people battling illness everywhere that being sick is nothing to be ashamed of. The best way to react to chronic disease is doing the best you can by fighting and staying strong to the best of your ability.
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