“I can’t walk for a long period of time without resting,” she said. “I cannot run. No superhero roles for me. Stairs? I can do them but they’re not the easiest. When I walk, I have to think about every single step, which is annoying and frustrating.”
My twin sister has MS and was diagnosed in her early twenties, just like Sigler. She is also a mom. She also takes medication to manage her illness and she, too, struggles with symptoms on a daily basis — but she refuses to let the disease get her down, for my niece’s sake. In fact, Sigler and my twin have a lot in common when it comes to MS. As I watched the video this morning, my eyes filled with tears.
But there is a possible silver lining here. By coming out about her struggle with MS, Sigler isn’t just setting an example of strength and courage for her son, she’s sending a message of hope to other people living with MS. Here she is, a Hollywood actress, who has been battling the disease for more than a decade and is still going.
Hopefully she’ll even be able to use her celebrity to raise awareness of the disease and even motivate researchers to find a cure sooner. In fact, it appears that she’s trying to do just that.
“In my lifetime I really think there will be a cure, and my doctor tells me that all the time,” she revealed in the video. “And I don’t think he’s telling me that just to [make me] feel better. I think the more attention we can give to this disease — you know, there’s not a lot of funding for research of MS because there’s not millions necessarily that have it, but it is a disease that affects a lot of people and I think if given the proper attention hopefully there will be better days ahead.”
You go, Jamie.
More Health Info for Moms:
- What it Feels Like to Be a Mom with Lupus
- My Terrifying Experience with Post-Weaning Depression
- The Big Health Mistake I (& Other Moms) Must Stop Making
Photo: Getty
