Ever since their show “Alaska: The Last Frontier” premiered in 2011, the Kilcher family has done a great job at showing the most realistic side of homesteading in Alaska. As a result, the audience has grown fond of the family and their experiences, including their highs and lows as they find new ways to live – some would say survive – off grid.
Besides all the challenges which inherently come with homesteading in an isolated area of Alaska, there are other personal issues the cast has been through that have had viewers on the edge of their seats more than once. That includes the health struggles of Kelli Kilcher, whose Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis has been a source of worry for the longest time for her and her family.
So what are the latest updates about Kelli’s health? And will that be featured in “Alaska: The Last Frontier”? Stay here to find out!
Kelli Kilcher’s Health’s Update
After being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2013, it has been a long and sometimes difficult path for Kelli Kilcher. While viewers of “Alaska: The Last Frontier” are no strangers to her struggles with this disease, the show has been unable to show most of the latest news about Kelli’s health, since it went on an hiatus following the 11th season’s finale.
With that being said, in October 2022 Kelli posted a social media update about her Multiple Sclerosis, affirming that one of her recent MRIs (Magnetic resonance imaging), had shown a change in her condition. Though she didn’t specify exactly what changes showed up in her tests, Kelli wrote that she was ‘still doing good’ and ‘better than many’ other people with Multiple Sclerosis. Yet, she felt uneasy at the uncertainty that the disease inherently brings to her life. To end her post, she applauded actress Selma Blair, who also suffers from Multiple Sclerosis, for bringing attention to the disease and inspiring Kelli to keep up as well.
Up to this date, Kelli hasn’t addressed her current condition following that latest update, though it’s fair to assume that she’s still doing well if her posts on social media while traveling and working on the family’s homestead are any indication.
When Was Kelli Diagnosed?
Kelli Kilcher was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in November 2013, when an MRI showed signs of demyelination in her body, a condition commonly associated with said disease.
The news of Kelli’s disease has been well known by fans of “Alaska: The Last Frontier”, given how she and her husband Shane have been more than open about their health worries. Back in the sixth season, the couple attended a medical appointment which was described as ‘nerve-racking’ by Kelli, as her MRI scans let the audience see that her condition was still developing and ever-changing.
In 2019, Kelli opened up on social media about the struggles of dealing with such a disease, listing some of the symptoms as brain fog, numbness on the left side of her body, nerve pain, and fatigue, amongst others. According to her, the issues brought by Multiple Sclerosis couldn’t be perceived from the outside regardless of it changing her life, leading her to adjust to her ‘new normal’.
Despite the struggles with her health, Kelli also affirmed that the disease has led her to feel proud of fighting Multiple Sclerosis, and appreciate her present, treasuring every moment in the face of not knowing what the disease could bring her in the future.
Did Kelli and Shane Leave The Show?
The exit of Kelli and Shane Kilcher from “Alaska: The Last Frontier” has been a topic of discussion in the show since around 2017, when the seventh season aired. Early in that year, Shane had gone through severe health issues, which included breaking his back after falling off a ladder, leaving him with fractured vertebrae and a long way to recovery.
As seen in the show, Shane’s accident happened when he was fixing his family’s cabin. He eventually recovered well, but had to take a step back from doing any heavy jobs for months. This only added to the difficulties the family was going through, as at the time Kelli had already been suffering from health issues and it was rumored that the show’s cast and the production hadn’t been seeing eye to eye financially.
In the end, Shane and Kelli didn’t leave the show for good, but their appearances slowly decreased. In 2019, Kelli affirmed that she would have liked the show to let the audience see more about her struggles with Multiple Sclerosis, as a way to inspire other people who could have been fighting the disease.
With that being said, it’s unclear what the future of “Alaska: The Last Frontier” is, given that the show entered an hiatus after the airing of the 11th season’s finale in late 2022. Nonetheless, whatever happens with the show, it’s for sure that Kelli, Shane, and the rest of the Kilcher family are still doing their best to keep their homesteading lifestyle alive, literally, and enjoy it on their term!.
ncG1vNJzZmiZlpuuqr7PqKqtZpOkunC3xKWjomWbnrmktMSrqmaglZa5tbSMrqedmaSaeri0wK1koZmgpbKvscNo