‘Buffy’ Star Emma Caulfield Reveals She Has MS: ‘I Just Have To Keep Going’

Emma Caulfield has softly been coping with MS for implicit a decade, but that hasn’t enactment her connected the sidelines. The WandaVision histrion revealed that she’s been surviving with Multiple Sclerosis since her 2010 diagnosis successful a caller interrogation with Vanity Fair.  She besides explained wherefore she’s continued moving and announced her instrumentality to the Marvel Cinematic Universe successful Kathryn Hahn’s upcoming Disney+ bid Agatha: Coven of Chaos.

Emma, who is known for her relation other Sarah Michelle Gellar connected Buffy The Vampire Slayer from 1998 to 2003, remembers her issues starting retired of nowhere. “Once upon a time, I had zero wellness problems,” she told VF.

Emma Caulfield attends the 2021 premiere of ‘Black Widow’ successful LA. She revealed she’s been surviving with MS successful a caller interview. (Shutterstock)

“Back successful 2010, I was moving connected [executive producer] Marti Noxon’s Gigantic, and anterior to starting that job, I woke up 1 greeting and the near broadside of my look felt similar determination were a cardinal ants crawling connected it. That feeling erstwhile you’ve sat successful a presumption excessively long?.. The feeling’s gone and it’s coming backmost similar a unreserved of blood. Then it conscionable benignant of went, I wouldn’t accidental wholly numb, due to the fact that I could inactive scratch it and consciousness my nails. But it was highly dull. I went to my acupuncturist, and helium was like, ‘I don’t know, man. Maybe you person Bell’s palsy?'”

MS symptoms tin manifest successful a fig of ways, often making it hard to diagnose. The illness causes the immune strategy to onslaught the protective covering astir nervus fibers, successful crook causing large connection issues betwixt the encephalon and the remainder of the body. Symptoms scope from numbness to tingling, temper changes, pain, paralysis, and more.

As the proposition of her acupuncturist, she visited a neurologist who explained she was a wide lawsuit of MS. “I had 5 minutes down oregon whatever. And helium was like: ‘You person MS.’ Just similar that,” she recalled.

“It was similar an out-of-body experience. I’m like, ‘No, that’s not possible.’ I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’ He was precise matter-of-fact astir it. ‘Well, you tin get a 2nd opinion…’ It was virtually a benignant of nightmare…. It turns retired it was thing major. Then I was like, ‘I’ve got to spell to enactment now.’ What bash I do?”

Emma is known for her relation other Sarah Michelle Gellar connected Buffy The Vampire Slayer from 1998 to 2003. She’s seen present with prima Nicolas Brendon. (Everett)

At first, the prima kept her diagnosis from radical she was moving with, not wanting  “to springiness anyone the accidental to not prosecute me.” She said, “There are already plentifulness of reasons to not prosecute people, reasons astir actors don’t adjacent know. ‘You look similar my ex-girlfriend… You’re excessively short. You’re excessively tall. You look mean. You look excessively nice. You don’t person the close colour eyes.’ I knew successful my bones that if you speech astir this, you’re conscionable going to halt working. That’s it.”

She came to the determination to spell nationalist with her MS aft learning astir however it could impact her daughter, who is 6. “I’m truthful bushed of not being honest,” she explained. “And beyond that, my girl has changed my perspective, arsenic I deliberation anybody who is simply a genitor tin attest.”

Emma added, “I cognize that she has a 30% greater accidental of coming down with this, conscionable luck of the gully for her. She’s 6. She’s conscionable started archetypal grade. … It got maine reasoning astir her and however afloat of joyousness and progressive she is, and she’s conscionable specified a singular small creature.”

For now, the histrion is staying engaged and staying positive, telling the magazine, “OK close now.” “Truthfully,” she said. My cognition is not crumbling nether the fearfulness of ‘what if’ oregon ‘what can,’ oregon ‘what has’ for different people. I conscionable person to support going.”