Christina Applegate talks about parenting through MS

Since being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021, Christina Applegate has been suffering from multiple sclerosis, from early symptoms of “tingling toes” and difficulty with balance to later being taken to the set of a Netflix show. He has been open about how his illness has affected his life. Dead to me, she told Robin Roberts in a recent interview, now in a wheelchair. ABC News. “The truth is, whether it's because I'm tired, dehydrated or the weather, I end up putting it off,” she says. “After that, nothing happened for months and I didn't pay attention.”

Now, the actress and co-host of the new podcast MeSsy (with friend and MS advocate Jamie-Lynn Sigler) is talking about another aspect of her life affected by her condition: her 13-year-old daughter Sadie. reveals about her child-rearing.

“My daughter had to witness the loss of her mother, just as I had her mother,” Applegate said. people In a new cover story with Sigler. She explained that they missed many aspects of their relationship, such as dancing together, picking her up from school, and Applegate working in the school library. She “exists outside the house, outside the bed. She doesn't see those things anymore,” Applegate explained.

And while Applegate may be treated unfairly and unable to interact with her daughter, neither of them can do anything about it. “She knows that if she comes into my room and she sees me lying next to her, she can't ask me to do anything,” Applegate said. explains. “And that makes me sad, because I love doing things for kids…but sometimes I can't.”

Applegate says that's the most difficult part of parenting through MS. “It breaks my heart when I have to tell them, 'I can't do it.' It's like the worst feeling in the world as a mother,” she explained, adding that for her it was a “normal situation.” It is,” he added.[s] It comes out almost every day,” and “It tears your soul apart.”

Multiple sclerosis (Applegate's friend and former co-star Selma Blair has also been diagnosed) is a disease that affects the brain and spinal cord, also known as the central nervous system. According to the Mayo Clinic, it's an autoimmune disease, meaning the immune system attacks a part of the body, in this case myelin, the protective sheath that surrounds nerve fibers. This causes communication problems between the brain and other parts of the body, leading to damage and deterioration of nerve fibers, leading to symptoms such as numbness, tingling, lack of coordination, vision problems, and cognitive problems, among others. will appear.

MS changed Applegate's life in every way, and although she misses it and doesn't know if she'll ever act again, she faces the issue with integrity and fierce spirit, both as a parent and as a person. . “I've spent my career pretending to be someone else to people in the public eye,” she said. “I don't have time for inauthenticity anymore. It's exhausting.”