Grey's Anatomy Star Steven W. Bailey Opens Up About Rare Medical Condition

Grey's Anatomy star Steven W. Bailey is opening up about a rare medical condition he's been battling for years. The actor is best known for playing Joe the bartender on the hit ABC medical drama. He first appeared as an anesthesiologist in several episodes during Grey's Anatomy season 1 before being cast in a recurring capacity as Joe, a role he played until season 7.

Now Bailey has broken his silence about a medical diagnosis called congenital myasthenic syndrome that he's been silently dealing with for the past several years. During an interview with Good Morning America, he explained that he first started experiencing symptoms in 2020 when his entire arm went into a "lockdown situation" after he tried to turn a screwdriver.

"I tried to turn my hand with a screwdriver and my entire arm just went into a lockdown situation."

Congenital myasthenic syndrome is a condition that reveals itself through muscle weakness. Symptoms can also include droopy eyelids, slurring, shortness of breath, numbness, and seizures. While patients are typically diagnosed as children or even directly after being born, mild symptoms might mean they never receive a diagnosis until they're an adult.

Unfortunately, congenital myasthenic syndrome has no cure, though there are medications available to help improve muscle strength, as well as therapy.

Bailey admitted that there are a lot of times when everything is "kind of falling apart," but he works to "bolster" himself back up and tries to "stay positive." There are times when the disorder causes such extreme fatigue that he ends up using a wheelchair.

"There's a lot of private moments of everything kind of falling apart, and then, you know, you have to kind of bolster yourself back up and try to stay positive."

Over the years, Bailey has guest-starred on numerous TV shows and movies, going back to the late 90s. His filmography includes Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Will & Grace, Community, NCIS, Bones, Shameless, Modern Family, and You. He also appeared on the reality show My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé.

Grey's Anatomy isn't the only Shondaland series he's made appearances on. Bailey reprised the role of Joe the bartender on the spinoff Private Practice and played a reporter named Noah on Scandal.

Bailey hasn't acted very much in recent years, though he did appear in two episodes of Chicago Fire and the Bumble origin story film Swiped. Going forward, he has no plans to retire from the entertainment industry, even though he gets "tired quicker" and "might need to move around the set on the wheelchair" to save his energy for when he's actually filming his scenes.

"Most of the stuff I usually do on film, I can still do. I just get tired quicker and I might need to move around the set on the wheelchair just to save my energy for the scene itself."

Living with congenital myasthenic syndrome presents a "real opportunity" for shows and movies to feature ambulatory wheelchair users more. "I think it'd be a real interesting exploration of a character, to have somebody who's dealing with an issue like that on screen," he added.

"I think there's a real opportunity to show people onscreen who are like me, ambulatory wheelchair users. I think it'd be a real interesting exploration of a character, to have somebody who's dealing with an issue like that onscreen."

While it's unclear when he'll next appear on-screen, Bailey's comments indicate that he has no intention of stepping away from the cameras.

Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.