Christina Applegate has been incredibly open about her journey with Multiple Sclerosis, a disease she has lived with for years, and isn't afraid to share the difficult and often traumatic moments she has experienced since her diagnosis in 2021.
The Dead To Me actress got candid about parenting with the chronic disease, which affects the central nervous system and can cause vision problems, stiffness, extreme fatigue, and difficulties with speech and movement.
Parenting 101
Christina opened up on SiriusXM's Let's Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa podcast about how her relationship with her daughter Sadie had changed since she received her MS diagnosis.
"I don't get up in the morning with that, I get up because of her," she said of the 14-year-old. "She's the reason I'm still here and trying."
"But she did say to me, and we got into a big thing the other day, and sorry Sadie, but it has to be said. She said, 'I missed who you were before you got sick,'" the star recalled. "That is just like a knife to the heart because I miss who I was before I got sick too."
"Very much so," she added. "Every day of my life is such a loss. See, now I'm gonna cry. See, this is my problem. I'm either like extremely traumatic and crying, or I'm cracking myself up. So I'm never in between."
Christina shares her daughter with her husband, Martyn LeNoble, whom she married in 2013.
Mother-daughter bond
Despite their argument, the 53-year-old and her daughter are extremely close, and the teen has been there for her mother during several major career moments. She was by Christina's side at the SAG Awards in 2023 and supported her when she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2022.
The Married…With Children actress has been open in the past about how MS has changed her parenting style, forcing her to miss out on the small moments with Sadie.
"She's had to see the loss of her mom, in the way that I was a mom with her," Christina told People.
"Dancing with her every day. Picking her up from school every day. Working at her school, working in the library. Being present out of the house, out of my bed. She doesn't see those things anymore. This is a loss for her as well. And we're both learning as we're going along."
Christina added that there were times when she couldn't get out of bed due to the pain. "She'll come in the room, and if she sees that I'm laying on my side, she knows that she can't ask me to do anything," the mom of one said.
"And that breaks me, breaks me. Because I love doing stuff for my kid. I love making her food. I love bringing it to her. I love all of it, and I just can't sometimes. But I try. I try."
Raising awareness
Although MS is a crippling disease that has often left her bedridden, the blonde beauty has worked hard to raise awareness and prove to MS sufferers that they're not alone.
She started a podcast with her friend and fellow MS survivor Jamie Lynn Sigler called MeSsy, which delves into their experiences with the disease as well as parenting and personal growth.
To learn more about Christina's health battle, watch below...