Annette Funicello Part 2

Annette Funicello People's Magazine

If you've reached Annette Funicello Part 2 first, and would like to read Part 1, click here.

Annette's story, cont'd.:

After hearing about several phone calls from tabloids to neighbors, friends, and family asking about her health, she finally decided that it was time to go public with her illness. She decided to call a publicist at Disney to tell them to get in touch with USA Today. She was finally going to go nationwide with her diagnosis of MS.

For a long time, she'd felt that no one wanted to believe that something bad could happen to "Annette Funicello". Once she went public, though, she received so much support from both friends and family. In fact, they all offered their love and prayers.

Many different therapies

She looked into many different therapies that were available at the time. She tried steroids, acupuncture and acupressure, herbal medicines and vitamin B-12 shots in her legs. None of them seemed to help.

Her Catholic faith and her steadfast determination have helped her to cope with her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Her family became closer. And of course, her husband, Glen Holt, was known to always be by her side. She knew, though, that she would have to make certain adjustments to cope with her disease.

She began to exercise three times a week to help manage her symptoms.  And she also tried not to stress out - a known cause of exacerbations. She always told herself that tomorrow would be better.

Annette was a fighter. She didn't want to be treated like an invalid or have people feel pity for her. She lived each day with the hope that there would soon be a cure for MS.

Annette's fund to raise money for MS

In 1993, she started the Annette Funicello Fund for Neurological Disorders at the California Community Foundation. In 1994 she published her autobiography - A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: My Story. You can check it out by clicking on the link below. The book, in turn, was made into a TV movie - “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” in 1995.

Annette Funicello - A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes: My Story(Clicking image will open a new window)

That same year, she began the Annette Funicello Collectible Bear Company. The last collection was released back in 2004. You can still find a few bears circulating if you look for them. The link above will open a new window and take you to Etsy where you can see some of them.  

In the last years of her life, MS made life more and more difficult for Annette. She had vision problems, breathing problems and at times it was very difficult for her to talk. Her family always made things as comfortable and as normal as they could. Through it all, she continued to be poised and hopeful that the MS mystery would eventually be solved.

If you like to reminisce, like we do, or even if you've never heard her before, you may like watching her interview as she talks about her music. After watching it, you will be able to see why so many people loved Annette.

And here is a tribute to her by one of her longtime friends - Vince Smith, a singer. He wrote this song, "My Annette" especially for her. In his later years, he also developed multiple just like his friend. He shared his story with us when he found Annette's page here at Life in Spite of MS.


Annette and her husband, Glen Holt

As we all know, Annette passed away in April of 2013. This touching video is an interview with Glen Holt and some of her friends about the progression of Annette's MS before she died. Her courageous fight is an inspiration to us all.

After getting treated for CCSVI, Glen felt that he saw improvements, though small, they were definitely improvements. Through Annette's fund (see link above), he is asking for money to help fund research for CCSVI and other treatments that could help alleviate this disease as well as other neurological diseases.

(Please note - this video may be difficult for some of you to watch. Take that in mind when viewing.)

Annette had a particularly progressive form of multiple sclerosis. One that continued in a downward progression over the years, eventually rendering her unable to move or speak. This is a rarer form of the disease. Most people (about 75-80% begin with RRMS and about 50% of those go on to a more progressive form like SPMS). PPMS or primary progressive is the most progressive form which about 10% of people develop.

After watching this video, please scroll back up and consider donating to her fund to help eradicate MS if you haven't already done so.

Dear Friends,

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Sincerely,

Cir & Akrista

You are reading original content written by Akrista or Cir L'Bert of Life in Spite of MS. If you enjoyed reading this blog, please consider following us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. See you there!

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