Teri Garr’s Tragic Secret She Took to Grave: How Late Oscar-Nominated 'Tootsie' Actress Hoped Miracle Cure Would Save Her From Multiple Sclerosis
Teri Garr had her eyes on a potential MS cure.
Another legend has been lost after the death of Teri Garr following her battle with Multiple Sclerosis, despite the potential of a miracle cure.
RadarOnline.com can reveal how the 79-year-old was hoping a new therapy could have possibly improved her failing health.
Teri Garr suffered from Multiple Sclerosis but had hopes for a miracle cure.
The Young Frankenstein star, who was seen out and about being pushed in a wheelchair while alive, may have been given a glimmer of hope thanks to a therapy known as autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, or HSCT, which is said to help MS from progressing by rebuilding the immune system.
Researcher Dr. Richard K. Burt of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago previously said "only a minority of patients receiving HSCT relapse by the five-year mark. The vast majority don’t.”
“One time and you’re done, you’re off drugs,” he added, noting that only one treatment was required.
MS is an immune system disease that destroys the nervous system and impacts speech, vision, balance, and causes severe fatigue.
Garr first spotted a symptom in 1983 during a jog, feeling a strange tingling in her right foot and later a stabbing pain in her arm. She was diagnosed with the disease in the 1999 around the same time she was guest-starring on the NBC sitcom Friends.
A source shared: "She’s always been positive that someday someone would find a cure."
HSCT is said to help MS from progressing by rebuilding the immune system.
However, New York internist Dr. Stuart Fischer didn't put much stock in HSCT, and said: "Multiple sclerosis is unfortunately irreversible. There’s no known cause and no known cure.
"People’s symptoms are managed, but the illness itself cannot be erased.”
He added: “It’s a very difficult psychological burden. That’s why it’s a so tragic. Its victims are relatively young, and they’re fully aware of what’s going on.”
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Garr died on October 29 after a long fight with the disease. The star's publicist, Heidi Schaeffer, told People she was "surrounded by family and friends" at her time of death.
Many notable stars responded to Garr's passing including fellow actress Samantha Morton, who worked alongside Garr in the 2007 film Expired.
She shared on Instagram: "Teri Garr. It was a real honor to work with you. A powerful, uncompromising, and hilarious woman."
"A courageous fighter of multiple sclerosis, you brought such joy to so many," she added.
The 79-year-old was known for her roles on 'Young Frankenstein', 'Tootsie', and 'Friends'.
TheTootsie actress was open about her diagnosis, especially in her 2006 memoir, Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood.
She wrote: "MS is a sneaky disease. Like some of my boyfriends, it has a tendency to show up at the most awkward times and then disappear entirely.
"It would take over 20 years for doctors to figure out what was wrong. Sometimes they mentioned MS, but all the tests came back clear. Then the symptoms would fade away and I'd forget about it, sort of."
Garr revealed that "the industry" wanted "no part" of her illness, which "outraged" her.
She explained: "Whatever was going on in my body had been going on for years. It never got in the way of my work.
"Then I started thinking the job offers disappeared because I stunk as an actress. It was a tough trio: mysterious symptoms, my insecurities about my acting ability, and the reality of being an 'aging' actress."
Garr went on to become a become a national chair for the Society's Women Against MS program and a national ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
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