Managing Life with MS
- Christina Applegate, 54, who is living with Multiple sclerosis (MS), shared the funny and heartwarming welcome-home sign her daughter made for her after her months-long hospital stay.
- Applegate received her MS diagnosis in August 2021. Years earlier, in 2008, the “Married with Children” star faced another major health battle when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, ultimately undergoing a double mastectomy to remove both breasts.
- With MS, the immune system mistakenly attacks the protective covering surrounding nerve fibers in the spinal cord, disrupting the signals that travel between the brain and the rest of the body. While there’s no cure for MS yet, treatment options — including certain chemotherapy drugs and other medications — can help manage the disease.
- Dr. Nancy Sicotte, Chair of Neurology at Cedars-Sinai, tells SurvivorNet that earlier diagnosis and disease-modifying therapies are helping slow progression for many patients. Thanks to new diagnostic criteria, some patients can be diagnosed before they even experience symptoms.
- “If you can diagnose someone at that level, at that stage, put them on a disease-modifying therapy, and then they would, theoretically, never have symptoms,” this could potentially prevent future disabilities from developing, Dr. Sicotte says.
- While outcomes for MS have improved, aging remains a key driver of progression. Maintaining overall health in addition to early intervention can help reduce risk of long-term worsening in some patients.
- Patients and families looking for guidance on treatment options can also turn to SurvivorNet’s doctor-backed AI tool, My Health Questions.
Applegate — a breast cancer survivor who released her memoir “You with the Sad Eyes” earlier this year — spent several months hospitalized before returning home to a colorful banner reading “Yay! You’re Home. Happy Day Ho.”
Read MoreFans and friends flooded the comments with warmth and humor., while several related to the joke directly—one follower shared that her own teenager calls her “ho” too, joking she wasn’t sure whether to feel “offended or honored.”View this post on Instagram
Others leaned into the comedy of it all, with one commenter laughing that Applegate is “really rich” and would still find the sign hilarious.
However, many comments focused on support for her Applegate’s healing journey. One follower praised Applegate for using her platform to speak for people with “hidden illnesses,” noting how often chronic pain and fatigue go unacknowledged by doctors and friends alike. Another commenter, who said they also spend significant time in hospitals, said the sign resonated deeply with them.
Perhaps the comment that captured the thread best was simple: “Humor is a great healer! We love you Ho!!” It echoed a feeling shared throughout the replies — one of admiration, empathy, and a whole lot of heart emojis welcoming her back home.
Coping With Emotions During & After a Life-Changing Diagnosis
According to a report by TMZ, Applegate was hospitalized in the early spring, for unknown reasons, and discharged sometime in the summer.
On April 10, Applegate took to Instagram to thank everyone for the “outpouring of love and well wishes.”
She wrote, alongside a photo of her memoir and a coffee mug, “Health issues are a constant for me, but I’m a strong chick and I’m getting stronger and better every day.
“I’m taking a moment to focus on my health, but I’ll be back with more to say soon enough.”
It’s unclear what date Applegate arrived home, but on July 25she shared a comical Instagram post showing her and her daughter holding up what appears to be chocolate lips over their face.
“Me and the kid. How is everyone this evening? I’m so good because going thru pics and finding gems with your mini me gives me joy. Cuz we are both off hahah,” she wrote.
Applegate shares her daughter, Sadie, born in 2011, with her husband, musician Martyn LeNoble.
View this post on Instagram
Christina Applegate’s MS Journey
Applegate began experiencing symptoms of Multiple sclerosis long before she had answers. She actually said she felt off balance during a dance sequence that occurred way back in season one of her dark comedy “Dead to Me.” She later noticed her aptitude for tennis started to fail.
“I wish I had paid attention,” she previously told The New York Times. “But who was I to know?”
It took several years of worsening tingling and numbness in her extremities before her diagnosis arrived while on set. This life-altering realization wouldn’t stop Applegate from finishing her portrayal of Jen Harding, but she did need a break. Production of the final season ceased for about five months as she began treatment.
“There was the sense of, ‘Well, let’s get her some medicine so she can get better,’” Applegate said. “And there is no better. But it was good for me. I needed to process my loss of my life, my loss of that part of me. So I needed that time.”
Applegate admits she’ll never fully “accept” her condition, but she did learn how to work with it. And she’s previously talked about how the show was a cathartic outlet and safe space.
“I had an obligation to Liz [Feldman] and to Linda [Cardellini], to our story,” she said of the show’s writer and her co-star respectively. “The powers that be were like, ‘Let’s just stop. We don’t need to finish it. Let’s put a few episodes together.’ I said, ‘No. We’re going to do it, but we’re going to do it on my terms.’”
Applegate wasn’t able to work as hard or as long or in the heat without her body giving out, but she found pride in her self-sufficiency. With the help of some adjustments to the schedule, she powered through. Nicole Vassell, a writer for The Independent, says other programs should learn from the way Applegate’s “physical changes [were] seamlessly incorporated into the show.”
“This is the first time anyone’s going to see me the way I am,” Applegate said. “I put on 40 pounds; I can’t walk without a cane. I want people to know that I am very aware of all of that.”
In a later episode of the “MeSsy” podcast, Applegate shared that she has since lost the 40 pounds naturally, without using any weight-loss medications. She joked that the weight came off as a result of stomach problems linked to the medication she takes while managing her MS.
RELATED: Multiple Sclerosis: Dealing With Fatigue
Interventions Can Improve Quality of Life for People With MS
For those living with multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic neurological disorder, advances in diagnosis and treatment are making a real difference, helping many patients achieve a better quality of life and more hopeful long-term outlooks. It’s unclear what Applegate’s treatment is.
Dr. Nancy Sicotte, Chair of Neurology and Director of Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology at Cedars-Sinai, previously told SurvivorNet that an increasing number of patients are able to maintain stable lives due to earlier intervention and disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), medications that help slow disease progression, decrease how often and how severe relapses occur, and reduce the formation of new nerve damage.
“Now with the new diagnostic criteria, we can actually diagnose someone as having multiple sclerosis before they’ve even had a symptom, just based on the imaging. What that indicates is we could sort of, theoretically prevent clinical MS from ever appearing,” Dr. Sicotte said.
“If you can diagnose someone at that level, at that stage, put them on a disease-modifying therapy, and then they would, theoretically, never have symptoms. We would be preventing them from having any symptoms or any disability,” she added.
Treating MS early can help prevent attacks that may cause lasting symptoms, making prevention of relapses a key goal of care.
Treatments can be injectable, oral, or infusion medications.
Understanding Disease Progression
Although researchers do not fully understand all the factors that drive MS progression, certain genetic traits appear to increase the likelihood of more aggressive disease.
Still, with earlier diagnosis and today’s effective treatments, many patients are achieving favorable long-term outcomes, Dr. Sicotte notes.
When MS is diagnosed early, patients can “get put on a very, very effective disease-modifying therapy, and then they just get on with their lives,” she explained. “I definitely have patients who I see … saying to me, ‘I really forget most of the time that I’m living with MS.’ So to me, that’s so amazing and wonderful to hear.”
The Role Age Plays in MS Progression
Dr. Sicotte also highlighted that the biggest risk for MS progression is simply age, though healthy living habits can also have an impact.
While some risk factors cannot be changed, patients can focus on healthy habits such as regular exercise, balanced nutrition, sufficient sleep, and preventing or managing chronic illnesses like diabetes and high blood pressure, Dr. Sicotte noted.
“Folks who can keep themselves relatively healthy, that seems to be protection for this progression,” she explained, adding that scientists are currently studying how aging affects the immune system and contributes to MS progression.
The research could uncover new treatment approaches not only for MS, but also for other neurological diseases such as ALS, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s.
Quality of Life Is Improving
While MS is still a very serious condition, many people lead very full lives.
“People with MS are just living their lives,” Dr. Sicotte said. “They’re having families, they’re working, they’re traveling, you know, they’re doing everything that they would want to do in their life. And thankfully, that is much more common these days.
“It’s very common that we see people just thrive and do well. That said, there are definitely patients who, even despite being on good treatments, will have worsening over time.”
She notes that in more advanced cases of MS, patients may experience substantial mobility limitations, with some relying on wheelchairs for daily support. A small percentage require extensive caregiving assistance.
“Our big challenge right now is better understanding why some people seem to do great and other people will have this relentless, worsening MS,” Dr. Sicotte added, noting that a key factor is identifying MS early and starting treatment before major damage occurs.
She also pointed out that, because aging is a major driver of progression, over time people living with MS long-term may be more likely to experience this stage of the disease.
Living With Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis causes the immune system to attack cells that form the protective sheath that covers nerve fibers in the spinal cord. The disruption leads to communication problems between the brain and the rest of the body.
Once the protective barrier is damaged, the spinal cord struggles to communicate with the body’s arms, legs, and other parts to function normally.
There is no cure for MS currently, but there are methods to manage symptoms.
Common tools patients use to improve their quality of life include wheelchairs, canes, leg braces, and disease-modifying therapies (DMTs).
A study in American Family Physician found that DMTs “have been shown to slow disease progression and disability; options include injectable agents, infusions, and oral medications targeting different sites in the inflammatory pathway.”
Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT), also called bone marrow transplantation, with autologous meaning a patient’s own cells, can help “reset the immune system” for patients with multiple sclerosis, according to research published in Frontiers in Neurology.
Several studies and clinical trials using AHSCT have shown promise, and additional research published by NEJM Journal Watch says that AHSCT helps MS patients reduce relapses better than other forms of MS treatment.
There are four main types of multiple sclerosis:
- Clinically isolated syndrome (CIS): This is when an individual experiences a single neurological episode lasting 24 hours or less. CIS is what MS is diagnosed as until there is a second episode.
- Relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS): The most common MS among the million people battling the disease in the U.S., RRMS is marked by sudden flare-ups, new symptoms, or worsening of symptoms and cognitive function. The condition will then go into remission for some time before reemerging with no known warning signs.
- Primary progressive MS (PPMS): These individuals have no flare-ups or remission, just a steady decline with progressively worse symptoms and an increasing loss of cognitive and body functions.
- Secondary progressive MS (SPMS): This is an almost transitional form of MS that progresses from RRMS to PPMS.
Questions for Your Doctor
If you are diagnosed with MS or are concerned you have the chronic disease due to symptoms you’re experiencing, consider asking your doctor the following questions.
- Although there’s no cure for MS, which treatment option to manage my symptoms do you recommend for me?
- Are there any potential side effects of MS treatment?
- What if the treatment to manage symptoms doesn’t work?
- Will exercise or therapy help my symptoms?
- Are there any MS support groups you recommend to help me cope
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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