On Thursday, Jamie-Lynn Sigler opened up about how her condition, multiple sclerosis (MS), has changed her over the years. She said she learned some beautiful lessons from her condition.
Sigler told Today, “I’m doing very well. I’ve lived with it for 18 years and so much of it was focused on the physical part of the journey and the way it affects me and obviously it still does today, but now it’s been more [of] paying attention to the emotional part. I don’t think people realize emotionally how much a chronic illness can affect you.”
Nowadays, the 38-year-old actress is focusing more on the positive aspects of her condition.
The Mob Town star said, “It’s transitioned from feeling like a victim and what it’s taken away to more of what it’s given me. And it’s given me a lot,” adding that “one of the most beautiful lessons is realizing how kind people are.”
She added, “It’s very hard for me to ask for help, but I’ve realized people like to feel needed, they like to be of service and helpful. It’s allowed me to have some beautiful interactions and I just am appreciative of that.”
While her youngest son, Jack Adam, is too young to understand the condition, her older son, Beau Kyle, 6, total gets it. She said, “Sometimes he asks questions, but you know, my kids make me feel like a superhero. They don’t know any different, I’m the only mommy that they know,” adding that Beau “never complains.”
“He [Beau] understands if I say I need to sit down or let’s just do some Leggos, I need to hang out. I think I’m the only one who overanalyzes or feels guilty that I can’t do things. They don’t mind at all,” she added.
Sigler was diagnosed with MS when she was 20 years old. In March, she admitted that she is concerned about how the condition has affected her boys.
In an emotional essay for Shondaland.com, she wrote, “MS — any chronic illness, really — becomes your whole family’s disease, not just your own,” explaining that she was terrified when she knew that she is pregnant with Beau. “A million thoughts ran through my head. What if he runs off and I can’t chase him one day?” Sigler recalled. “What if I can’t carry him up and down the stairs? What if he won’t want to play with me because I can’t be the ‘fun mom’ who runs on the beach with him, or chases him around the house?”
