Dead To Me actor Christina Applegate has opened up about how her Multiple Sclerosis (MS) diagnosis has impacted her 14-year-old daughter, Sadie.
Applegate, 53, has long been brutally honest about the ways in which MS has changed her life, having previously described the condition as the 'worst thing she's ever gone through'.
MS causes a breakdown of the protective covering of nerves, causing numbness, weakness, and trouble walking, among other symptoms, and Applegate has been candid about 'unimaginable' pain she's experienced as a result.
In the latest episode of her podcast, MeSsy, Applegate discussed how the diagnosis has impacted beyond just her, having also had a huge impact on her teen daughter.
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Speaking to her co-host, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, the actor said: "Sadie only knew me as healthy and a runner and a, you know, pelatoner and a dancer and she only knew that."
When Applegate received her diagnosis in 2021, she described Sadie as being 'stoic' about the situation, but she's since noticed how her daughter looks at her differently.
She explained: "I see her look at me when I'm in bed and can't quite move, or I want to go say good night to her in her room, but I can't quite get down the hallway for whatever reason that my legs aren't working that day.
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"Like right now, I could barely get to the bathroom. It's just the worst. But that's neither here nor there. But... it's broken her, you know, and she didn't know this. It was like losing the mom she had to this f**king thing. And the more she's gotten older now, I think the more it's hurting her."
Sigler agreed, noting that MS is a 'very harsh reality' for children.
The Anchorman star went on to point out that her diagnosis came just after the Covid-19 outbreak, saying: "We had just gone through Covid and no school and all this stuff, and now mommy can't do all the things that she used to be able to do."
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"I see it in her eyes. I see it," she continued. "But you know what's really beautiful? When we're out, she knows I'm having such a hard time because I have such anxiety about being out. And she's always got my arm.
"She's always trying to help me through and help me with my cane and all this stuff. At home, she's like, 'Can you please go down and make my food cos you're the only one who can make it.' She's like, 'You're going down all the steps.' And I'm like, 'Sadie, I can't make it down the f**king steps.'
"But I do it. I do it because I know that she's like checking in to make sure, can she still take care of me?"
Topics: Christina Applegate, Parenting, Health, Celebrity
Emily Brown