Jamie-Lynn Sigler is candidly sharing how her son, Beau, has been affected by her battle with multiple sclerosis (MS).
Sigler, 44, revealed during the Tuesday, August 26, episode of the “MeSsy” podcast that her 12-year-old son had a heartbreaking reaction to his mom’s illness after they watched the 1994 movie Forrest Gump together.
“Beau is me. So he cried at the times I cried, like, I wasn’t shocked that he would get emotional. But when the movie was done, he kind of buried his head in my chest and just started sobbing,” the Sopranos alum explained. “And I was like, ‘Oh, buddy. What’s the matter?’ And he was like, ‘I hate how much you suffer. I hate watching you be sick. I don’t like that this is happening to you.’”
Sigler admitted that she “never thought about that” aspect of her illness before.
“I pride in myself that Beau and I have a very open relationship. And I feel like I’ve set the stage for him to … express himself or talk about anything with me,” she continued of her eldest son, whom she shares with husband Cutter Dykstra. (The couple also shares son Jack, 7.)
“I guess I just took for granted that he’s only known me with MS, so that he’s just kind of accepted that this is my life,” Sigler, who was diagnosed with the autoimmune disorder at age 20, added. “And I didn’t think about it being that hard for him, the uncertainty of it, and the obvious comparisons that he now has of having a mother with a disability versus one that doesn’t. And it was eye-opening and heartbreaking.”
The mom of two said she felt “guilty” that she “didn’t ever consider that this would be so difficult” for Beau.
Jamie-Lynn Sigler and her sons Jamie-Lynn Sigler/Instagram
“I’m so used to dealing with my struggle and my pushing through it daily. I guess I just didn’t think about him noticing it or clocking it or caring about it,” she continued. “I think we assume just our kids are selfish, and … I just didn’t anticipate that conversation, and it [has] really stuck with me.”
Sigler first opened up about her MS battle in 2016, nearly 15 years after she was diagnosed.
“I already had a big career. It was difficult to accept,” she admitted during a Fox News appearance, noting that she decided to speak out because she wanted to be a source of comfort for others who were going through the same thing.
“I think a lot of the time when people are dealing with any chronic illness you can feel very isolated, you can feel alone, you feel like people don’t understand,” she said. “I wanted to be somebody that says, ‘I get it, I feel you, I hear you, I go through what you go through, and I understand.’”
Christina Applegate is opening up about an honest conversation she had with daughter Sadie amid her ongoing battle with multiple sclerosis. “I get up [in the morning] because of [Sadie],” Applegate, 53, said on the Wednesday, July 30, episode of SiriusXM’s “Let’s Talk Off Camera With Kelly Ripa” podcast. “She’s the reason I’m still here […]
In 2023, Sigler exclusively told Us Weekly about how her illness affects her parenting.
“I’m human. Are there days where I wonder, ‘Would I have been a little bit more patient if I wasn’t struggling physically?’ It makes you question everything in your life. It affects every area of your life,” she shared. “But I think that when I put my kids to bed and I see the connection that we have and I know that that’s completely unaffected no matter what I physically can or can’t do.”
Sigler added that Beau is an “empath” who understands her condition, but Jack sometimes struggles with it.
“[Beau is] very sensitive. If I ever apologize [to] him that I can’t do certain things or explain to him certain limitations I have, he’s always like, ‘Oh, mom, I get it, don’t worry. It’s all right.’” she added. “My little one … he is upset about it, he doesn’t like it. He’ll compare what I can and can’t do to other moms, which is totally OK.”
