Fame

I’ve been thinking about the portion of Teri Garr’s book that describes her experiences as a celebrity.  It seems to be what I’d suspected – like living life in a glass box.  She didn’t do much complaining about it.  As I said earlier, I get the impression she really likes her chosen career.  But, reading this book does confirm to me that living a life of celebrity has its drawbacks.

From what I’ve vicariously learned about being famous, you must be intuitive and cautious, for relationships may not always be true.  Ulterior motives lurk around every Hollywood corner.  One would constantly be asking, “Does this person want to be my friend because I’m famous?” 

I’m reading Montel Williams’ “Climbing Higher” right now.  He has this to say on page 148: “Ever since I became a celebrity I’ve had to wonder if someone likes me for me or because I’m well known; when she got to know the real me, not the TV personality, would she still like me?  Now the real me is sick, vulnerable; who could possibly love that person?”

And, as Teri Garr found out and had to announce her MS before she was ready to do so, if someone has information on a star, it makes the informant feel important to share it with the world. 

Performing artists are also under a microscope of judgment at all times; so, they must be determined and thick-skinned.  It can be rough on a person’s ego to be passed over because of body type, facial features, height, etc.  Yet, many find a niche, stick with it, and enjoy success.  There are perks to the job, too, of course, but I do have empathy for them on the pitfalls.

Oddly, I’ve encountered several celebrities so far in my life.  I will share a couple of the stories.

We’ve seen celebrities attending the same art shows we do.  I heard one before I saw her.  She was behind us, looking at the same piece of art we were.  As soon as I heard her, I thought to myself, “That voice is familiar.”  I figured it was someone from our hometown.  She was walking away to our left, and I turned my head to see if I could identify her.  It was then that I realized she was one of my favorite actresses.  I whispered her name to my hubby and nodded my head toward her, trying to be discreet.  Unfortunately, she realized she’d been spotted.  She froze for a second to see what I’d do.  I simply smiled and turned back toward the artwork.  She turned and walked on.  I think she made it through the rest of the show without getting mobbed.

I saw another actress at a major airport.  Some famous people must acquire the ability to know when someone recognizes them.  When our eyes met, she took a step back toward the huge guy behind her.  I’m assuming he was her bodyguard.  She looked concerned, like she expected me to shout out her name, point, and start a mass of people her direction.  I gave her a look of empathy, smiled, and shook my head slightly so she knew I wasn’t going to draw attention to her.  Her body language turned toward relief, and she smiled back.

It seems that some love acting but aren’t particularly fond of the consequences of fame.  I don’t blame them.  I’d be the same way.  Others seem to take it in stride, being tirelessly gracious about the throngs wanting photos and autographs.  Paying attention to fans is good self-promotion/marketing, but I would think it is exhausting.  Perhaps it is an introvert/extrovert thing on how well they shoulder the fame.

Each artist (and that’s what actors are) has her own reason for choosing an acting career.  For Teri Garr, I get the impression that it was a little because performing was in her family, but I think she stuck with it because of her love for the job.  She seems pretty down-to-earth.  At one point in the book, she wrote about longing for a small-town life out here on the Plains.  She seemed to wonder if it really is neighbor-helping-neighbor out here.  I smiled when I read that.

Yes, it is.  Yet, as we have travelled America, we’ve found many “Mayberry” communities in every region.  We’ve found friendly, helpful people everywhere.  I feel fortunate to have been born and raised here.  Oh, our nation has some problems for sure, but we'll be all right.

Speedbump

I just finished reading “Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood” by Teri Garr and Henriette Mantel.

This is the autobiography of Teri Garr (Terry Ann Garr), a comic actress & dancer who played in one of my all-time favorite movies – Young Frankenstein.  This book is about her experiences in Hollywood and with multiple sclerosis.  Many of us can relate to her MS experience, for it took several years of symptoms before she got her diagnosis.  

I also personally related to her when she wrote:

“Most people have relapsing-remitting MS, which means that after an attack, they go into a period of remission that can last for years.  About 15 percent of people with MS have progressive MS, which doesn’t go into remission – it just gets worse at different rates of progression, depending on the person.

“I could relate to plenty of the MS symptoms, but the more research I did, the more horrific stories I heard.  And then my episode faded away.  I stopped feeling weak and tired.  I still had to wear my brace, but otherwise I felt perfectly fine.  When I felt better, I put the research away.  I didn’t want to think about being sick when I felt well.  It was easier to put it on the back burner.  Until the words 'You have MS' came out of the mouths of professionals, I didn’t want to entertain the thought.”

I fully understood her perspective here, too:  

“Often people experience shock, depression, fear, and denial.  Plenty of people go through all the stages of realization in quick succession.  Not me.  My diagnosis had taken years, so I was glad to finally have one.  It gave me a starting point.  But it didn’t make sense to call my friends and family.  Why worry everybody?  They would only let their imaginations run wild.  But I knew the quest was over.  Dr. Weiner said, ‘The Chinese word for crisis contains two characters, one meaning danger and the other meaning opportunity.’” 

The moment of diagnosis for her was when her doctor said, “This might be MS,” as he saw how physically drained she was when she stepped out of a hot tub.

Dave Bexfield (@ActiveMSer)(of ActiveMSers) once tweeted: “Hot tubs are super fantastic if you have MS! That is if you like to feel oogly, go temporarily blind and get brain fog. You've been warned.”  It was through a conversation there that I learned that a hot tub was a medical test for MS.  The National Multiple Sclerosis Society writes, “For many years, the ‘Hot Bath’ test was used to diagnose MS. A person suspected of having MS was immersed in a hot tub of water, and the appearance of neurologic symptoms or their worsening was taken as evidence that the person had MS.”

I’ve always been pretty hesitant about hot tubs myself.  That’s a lot of water, and one could drown.  Don’t think so?  My grandma’s Scottish Terrier drowned in a bucket.  Compare the size ratio; it is roughly equivalent.  Add heat to the mix and you might as well play Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone” for mood music.

The author mentions doing research on the Internet and finding all kinds of descriptive words for MS that aren’t exactly encouraging:  devastating, debilitating, degenerative.  One might as well add another “D” word: doom!  Here, though, she wrote something I find encouraging: 

“I decided to go back to my show-business roots and look at the bright side of things.  MS can be surprising, inventive, and often inspiring.  I started saying, ‘I may have MS, but I have the best MS in town.’ I felt better when I said it like that.

“I always strive to be the best at whatever I do.  Sometimes people like to remind me that MS is a progressive disease.  Right after I say, ‘Thank you for sharing that slice of positivity,’ I say, ‘You know what?  Life is a progressive disease.  In fact, life is the leading cause of death.  We’re all doomed.  Ain’t none of us getting out of this alive!’  See, I choose to believe that life is full of good things: creative people; happy families; chocolate; loyal friends; inspiring children; and, of course, the Beatles.  MS is just a speedbump…a little one.”

The Eyes Have It!

I recently read this book:  “Optic Neuritis and Visual Problems in Multiple Sclerosis.You are NOT alone. – Latest News, Data, Personal Experience and Understanding by a 21 year MS Survivor and Information Addict.” – Article 3 by Little M.S.Nosey (Copyright Rachelle Marie Chippendale, 2012).

This is a short, inexpensive E-book.  It starts with a well-written story about the author’s experiences with MS.  Then, she moves into imparting medical information in a friendly, understandable way.  This book is primarily about the visual problems one can encounter, related terminology, and what medical tests might be done when you visit the neurologist regarding visual symptoms.  However, she also skillfully defines some of the medical terminology used regarding MS in general and writes about a few aspects of MS beyond just the visual symptoms.  At the back of the book, there are some study abstracts, if you don’t mind reading medical jargon.

If you have encountered visual problems due to MS, I’d say this book should definitely be on your “to read” list.  It is also fairly informative about other aspects of MS, though.  So, if you are an “information addict,” as the author admits to be (and I am, too), it is still worth reading if you’ve never had the visual issues.

I took some notes while reading, so will share.  In the bulleted list below, I've included what I found personally helpful and also made a few comments.  I’ve placed quotation marks around segments taken directly from the book.  This reading also sparked a theory I’ll address a little later in this post.  

•           Optic Neuritis (ON) rarely occurs in both eyes at the same time.
•           It is the most common first symptom of MS, in the form of blurred vision.
•           “92% of patients with Optic Neuritis experience severe pain particularly when moving the eye.”
•           “Intravenous steroids administered as quickly as possible after the beginning of an attack can not only shorten the attack, returning vision more quickly, but can improve the degree of recovery.  The only MS symptom where this is the case.”  Oral corticosteroids “may lead to more recurrent attacks than in non-treated patients (though oral steroids are generally prescribed after the intravenous course, to wean the patient off the medication).”
•           The author suggests various supplements and alternative remedies for optic neuritis.  One thing mentioned is fish oil.  My hubby’s optometrist suggested he take fish oil capsules (Omega-3 fatty acids, EPA & DHA) because he was getting iritis at least twice a year.  He took it for about a year, but then stopped when we read that it can increase a man’s chances of getting prostate cancer.  Since his dad had prostate cancer at an early age, that scared us off from his taking the fish oil.  Just something to research and consider, if you’re a guy reading this book.
•           GOOD NEWS:  “Recovery from ON is often complete and even in the worst cases, patients seldom fail to recover some sight.  Further improvement in vision can happen up to a year after symptoms begin.”
•           The rapid, involuntary shaking of my eyes that I experienced is called “Nystagmus.”
•           “As with most symptoms of MS, fatigue and heat (Uhthoff’s symptom) usually make [Nystagmus] worse.”
•           “There is also something called ‘short-circuiting’ fatigue, where affected nerves of individual muscle groups, such as your legs, tire after a short walk or your hand after writing.”

Now, for the theory that reading this book sparked.  

As I mentioned in my opening post to this blog, I have a beloved cousin who has ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease).  I’ve also observed acquaintances with it.  What stands out for me is that one of the abilities that seems to remain for such patients is their ability to voluntarily move their eyes, even though ALS is a disease that attacks the body’s nerve cells responsible for controlling voluntary muscles.  Take this interesting concept into account when considering what this book says about optic neuritis in those with MS: “Intravenous steroids administered as quickly as possible after the beginning of an attack [of optic neuritis] can not only shorten the attack, returning vision more quickly, but can improve the degree of recovery.  The only MS symptom where this is the case.” 

This makes me ask, then:  Is there something about the nerve cells controlling the eyes that make them different than nerve cells elsewhere in the body?  Why do the eyes of an ALS patient seem to successfully resist attack, even though I’d declare the eye muscles to be classified among the “voluntarily controlled” muscles?  The ALS patient’s heart muscle still works, for instance, because we don’t voluntarily control our hearts.  We don’t have to think about it to make it keep beating.  In the same line of thinking, what is special about the MS patient’s eye nerve cells that make them more responsive to medication, to the point that symptoms go away and normal sight can be recovered? 

I would suggest a study on what is different about eye nerve cells, if anything, in comparison to nerve cells in other parts of the body.  If we can discover that, perhaps we can utilize this information in combination with some of the exciting cell work currently occurring in laboratories to cure MS and other neurological diseases or at least develop another treatment option.