Emma Caulfield Ford has revealed that she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis more than a decade ago.
The former star of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Beverly Hills, 90210," 49, told Vanity Fair that 2010 was when she first noticed symptoms of the neurological condition, which disrupts communication between the brain and the body, causing numbness, tingling, mood changes, pain, paralysis and more.
Caulfield Ford recalled being concerned after waking up one morning with a pins-and-needles feeling on one side of her body.
"Once upon a time, I had zero health problems. ... Back in 2010, I was working on (executive producer) Marti Noxon’s 'Gigantic,' and prior to starting that job, I woke up one morning and the left side of my face felt like there were a million ants crawling on it. That feeling when you’ve sat in a position too long," she said.
"The feeling’s gone and it’s coming back like a rush of blood," she continued. "Then it just sort of went, I wouldn’t say completely numb, because I could still scratch it and feel my nails. But it was extremely dull."
The "WandaVision" star said she consulted her acupuncturist, who urged her to undergo an MRI. Her neurologist initially suspected it was Bell's palsy, a type of facial muscle weakness or paralysis that appears suddenly but usually resolves on its own. MS, on the other hand, can cause permanent damage to the nerves.
Caulfield Ford was in hair and makeup on the set of "Gigantic" when her neurologist called her to tell her the results of her MRI. "I’m just like, 'What’s up?' I had five minutes down or whatever. And he was like: 'You have MS.' Just like that. It was like an out-of-body experience. I’m like, 'No, that’s not possible.' I’m like, 'What are you talking about?'" she recalled.
The neurologist "was very matter of fact about it." But Caulfield Ford was stunned.
"It was literally a kind of nightmare. ... It turns out it was something major. Then I was like, 'I’ve got to go to work now.' What do I do?" she said.
Caulfield Ford, whose father was also diagnosed with MS, said she decided to go public with her diagnosis in order to not hide it from her 6-year-old daughter, whom she shares with husband Mark Leslie Ford.
"I’m so tired of not being honest. And beyond that, my daughter has changed my perspective, as I think anybody who is a parent can attest," she said.
"I know that she has a 30% greater chance of coming down with this, just luck of the draw for her. She’s 6. She’s just started first grade. ... It got me thinking about her and how full of joy and active she is, and she’s just such a remarkable little creature," she added.
The busy actor is set to reprise her "WandaVision" characters Sarah Proctor and Dottie Jones in the upcoming Marvel series "Agatha: Coven of Chaos" and said she is feeling “OK right now."
"Truthfully, my attitude is not crumbling under the fear of ‘what if’ or ‘what can,’ or ‘what has’ for other people. I just have to keep going," she said.