Christina Applegate copes with MS diagnosis with sick sense of humor
Christina Applegate is opening up about how her dark sense of humor has helped her deal with her MS diagnosis, saying, "It's how I keep myself OK."
Christina Applegate is getting through the tough times in her own way.
During a recent appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," the actress responded to Kimmel's claim she has a "sick sense of humor," after she joked about making a grand entrance on the show, with Applegate telling him, "It's how I live. It's how I keep myself OK."
"I was thinking wouldn't it be funny if I came out, and I did a somersault like Willy Wonka? And then I was like, 'Ta-da,' you'd be 'What a b----. She is such a liar.' I'm not. I literally am disabled," Applegate joked.
The actress was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021, and has been very open about the limitations she faces with her diagnosis, saying she now realizes the little things in life people take for granted.
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She continued the joke, by telling Kimmel she cries "every day, when I wake up," sarcastically adding, "it's fine."
"I mean, it sucks. I'm not going to lie. And I think anyone who has MS isn't going to be like, 'This is the best thing that ever happened to me,'" she said. "It really isn't. Because that would make you have a really crappy life if that's the best thing, the best thing that ever happened to you is something like this," before turning her attention to the audience, adding, "That was a joke. You guys don't get me!"
Applegate added that the diagnosis was obviously not something she ever wanted for herself, nor is it something she would wish on anyone, saying, "But, now it's my normal."
The actress recently teamed up with "The Sopranos" star Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who is also open about her journey with MS, to launch the "MeSsy" podcast. In a recent interview with "Good Morning America," Applegate detailed the early days of her diagnosis, and what a big help Sigler was to her.
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"I'm flipping the bird all day long at this thing. And I'm angry. I'm really, really p-----. You know I was a dancer and a runner and all these things that I love. And a mom, and it's like, mmm," she told host Robin Roberts. "And [Sigler's] like, ‘OK, I have you. And you are going to be OK.’"
She also spoke about ignoring the initial signs of MS, which the Mayo Clinic describes as "a potentially disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system), which attacks the protective sheath (myelin) that covers nerve fibers and causes communication problems between your brain and the rest of your body."
The initial signs included "tingling" in her toes, which progressed to her needing a wheelchair in order to continue filming the final season of "Dead To Me." She went on to say she probably had MS for "six or seven years" before she was diagnosed, as she often attributed the symptoms to being tired or dehydrated, and it wasn't until she spoke with Selma Blair when she was forced "to pay attention" to the symptoms.
"She goes, ‘You need to be checked for MS.’ I said, ‘No. Really? The odds? The two of us from the same movie, come on. That’s not gonna be – that doesn't happen.' She knew," Applegate shared of her "Sweetest Thing" co-star. "If not for her, it could have been way worse."
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Further proving laughter is the best medicine, Applegate joked about both her MS diagnosis and her previous battle with breast cancer, telling Roberts MS is "not my favorite disease, [and] I've had a couple."
