Resiliency in the Face of Diagnosis
- Actress Christina Applegate is receiving tremendous support from colleagues on the Netflix show Dead to Me after revealing that she’s fighting multiple sclerosis.
- Applegate is a cancer survivor. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, and had a double mastectomy as well as other preventative surgeries to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes.
- The production of Netflix’s Dead to Me has been delayed temporarily so that Applegate can prioritize her health.
- Mental health professionals who take care of cancer patients say the shock and trauma of a diagnosis can bring on its own grieving process. They say it’s important to know that the process of grieving can involve good and bad days.
Actor James Marsden from the show says he is in awe of the courage Applegate, 49, has shown fighting multiple sclerosis years after beating breast cancer.
Read MoreDr. Scott Irwin of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center says that “grief comes in waves.” Dealing with a grief after a diagnosis is normal, and talk therapy can be very helpful.
Dr. Scott Irwin notes that patients who receive a life changing diagnosis will experience grief. They grieve for the life they had before the diagnosis, and for the future they had imagined. All patients go through this process, and it is not always linear. “Grief comes in waves,” Dr. Irwin said.
James Marsden is impressed by the way that Applegate has taken the diagnosis in stride. The actress's Dead to Me co-star described her as "a compassionate, wonderful human being who is fun to work with," adding, "Anything that life will throw at her, she will figure out a way to not let it keep her down." According to Marsden, that is exactly how Applegate is approaching her cancer battle. "I admire her as a person," he said.
Applegate was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, and she underwent a double mastectomy that year, which saved her life. Her cancer was discovered through an MRI, and after her battle, the actress established a foundation called Right Action for Women which offers free MRIs to people with high risk of developing cancer.
The production of the third season of Dead to Me has been delayed to give Applegate the time and privacy she needs to focus on her health.
Jovanni Lorenzo, a colon cancer survivor, says that even the strongest people will have a few moments of questioning after a serious diagnosis. Why me?
Understanding Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. In MS patients, the immune system eats away at the protective material covering nerve fibers. Over time, this can cause permanent nerve damage. MS cannot be cured, but there are treatment options that allow patients to recover more quickly after their immune system attacks the nerves, control symptoms, and slow the disease's progression.
Multiple sclerosis symptoms can be hard to pin down because they vary between individuals and based on where the immune system attacks the nerves. Symptoms may also change significantly over the course of a patient's journey with the disease. Some of the most common symptoms include:
- Numbness or weakness in your limbs, often occurring on one side of the body at a time
- A tremor and poor coordination
- A feeling similar to an electric shock that occurs when you move or bend your neck
- Vision problems, including loss of vision, pain with eye movement, lasting double vision, and blurry vision
- Other symptoms include slurring your speech, feeling fatigued, feeling dizzy, tingling, and problems with sexual, bowel, and bladder.
MS is a long-term disease that can be disabling. For most patients, the disease relapses and remits over time. New symptoms may materialize during episodes, but they typically get better over time.
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