My bruising battle with arthritis
Actress Tatum shows off her scarred body on Instagram
FILM star Tatum O’Neal has spoken out about her battle with rheumatoid arthritis, sharing pictures of her scarred body.
The Oscar-winning actress, 56, referred to herself as a ‘warrior’ as she documented her symptoms on Instagram.
Ms O’Neal, who won the best actress Oscar at the age of ten in 1974 when she starred alongside her father Ryan O’Neal in Paper Moon, wrote: ‘All those red marks are from heating pads. I probably should turn those down a little bit and, believe it or not this is me actually getting better.’
She described other marks, writing: ‘A fall scratch scar on my right hip. And the back surgery scar from eight years ago. My last back surgery scar is on the front from February.’
The actress added the hashtag ‘#rheumatoidarthritiswarrior’ – and wrote: ‘Cheers to everyone and rheumatoid arthritis can go f*** itself.’
Ms O’Neal, whose mother was actress Joanna Moore, added that people should not take it personally if she doesn’t reply to their messages as her ‘hands suck right now’ as a result of the chronic inflammatory disorder, making it difficult to type.
She has three children, Kevin, Sean and Emily, with former tennis star John McEnroe, whom she married in 1986. They divorced in 1994.
The actress said her children have been ‘pretty great’ but that she had to ‘restructure’ her friends and support system ‘to find a core group of family and friends’ to help her.
After starring as Addie in Paper Moon, she appeared in The Bad News Bears, International Velvet and Nickelodeon.
In 2011, she featured alongside her father in the reality TV series Ryan and Tatum: The O’Neals as she attempted to heal a 25-year rift with the Love Story star.
Ms O’Neal was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 2011.
The autoimmune disease causes the immune system to attack the cells lining joints, making them swollen, stiff and painful.
This can lead to joint, cartilage and bone damage.
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