Bachelor Star Megan Marx Doesn’t Want Her Rare Neurological Disorder to ‘Define My Life’

After announcing in January that she had been diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder, Bachelor star Megan Marx updates fans on her condition.

While doing a Q&A on her Instagram stories late Sunday, Marx responded to a fan who asked, “How’s your health? You look healthy and happy.”

“Mostly good, thanks,” Marx replied. “I feel like I need to talk about spinocerebellar ataxia a little more on social media, but I really don’t want it to define my life.”

Marx hasn’t talked much about the disorder since revealing the initial diagnosis in a now-deleted Instagram post in January.

Megan Marx posted an update about her health on her Instagram stories.

Megan Marx/Instagram

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“Spinocerebellar Ataxia (SCA6) Months waiting for gene test results, met with neurologist on Friday. S— news. Diagnosis,” Marx captioned the selfie.

Spinocerebellar ataxia is a group of inherited brain disorders that affect the cerebellum – which the Cleveland Clinic explains is “the part of your brain vital to physical movement.” The degenerative disorder can also affect the spinal cord, affecting about one to five out of every 100,000 people.

As the condition progresses, it can cause problems with the eyes, hands, speech, legs and mobility. Symptoms include involuntary eye movements, loss of eye-hand coordination, learning difficulties and slurred speech.

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These symptoms usually appear after age 18 and slowly worsen over several years, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

There is no cure for spinocerebellar ataxia, however, treatment plans include reducing symptoms and improving function.

In January, Marx said she “feels grateful for my physical body right now, in its current state, before neurological degeneration tries to take a piece of me from me.”

The model continued: “Congratulations on making love and skinny dipping, hiking, painting and eating, bad dancing and awful bar conversations.”

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A month after revealing her diagnosis, in another Instagram Stories post, Marx shared that “SCA6 is a late onset. I am perfectly healthy and plan to be for a long time. Little confusions in between are just that,” she wrote. “Anyway, this is how I feel about things today, don’t ask me tomorrow😜.”

And she maintains that positive mindset, as Marx shared in a recent post, writing, “I’m happy, I’m grateful, I’m healthy.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education