Actress Christina Applegate, 52, may be known for her role in the Netflix series “Dead to Me,” but for the veteran actress, the television series carries extra special meaning. It was during the production of the show that she learned she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
“Shooting the show was the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life because I was diagnosed during shooting,” Applegate shared on the Kelly Clarkson Show.
“We’ve got to get [the fans] their closure. So, if that meant me having to take a break in the middle of the day so I could go sleep – or me just leaving because I couldn’t do anymore – then that’s what we had to do,” Applegate explained.
“Dead to Me” ran for three seasons and earned several Emmy nominations. It focused on a friendship between Applegate’s character and Linda Cardellini’s bonding amid therapy.
Living with Multiple Sclerosis
Living with Incurable 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.
WATCH: SurvivorNetTV Presents: Defying All Odds – A World-Renowned Doctor’s Incredible Journey Through MS
There is no cure for M.S., but M.S. warriors battling the disease do have methods to manage their symptoms.
Common tools M.S. patients use to improve their quality of life include wheelchairs, canes, leg braces, and some medical treatments called disease-modifying therapies (DMTs).
Applegate has most notably adopted using a cane to help her with balance issues.
A study in American Family Physician found that DMTs “has been shown to slow disease progression and disability; options include injectable agents, infusions, and oral medications targeting different sites in the inflammatory pathway.”
Research published in Frontiers in Neurology last year says autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) (also called bone marrow transplantation, with autologous meaning a patient’s own cells) used for multiple sclerosis therapy helps “reset the immune system.” Several studies and clinical trials using AHSCT have shown promise.
“In a meta-analysis of published studies using AHSCT for M.S. treatment, the pooled estimated transplant-related mortality was 2.1%, two-year disease progression rate was 17.1%, five-year progression rate of 23.3%, and a pooled 83% of patients with no evidence of disease activity at two years. Patients who had the most benefit and least mortality rate were patients with relapsing-remitting M.S. (RRMS).”
Additional research published by NEJM Journal Watch says that AHSCT helps M.S. patients with relapse reduction better than other forms of M.S. treatment.
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society outlines the different types of multiple sclerosis:
- Clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) is when an individual experiences a single neurological episode lasting 24 hours or less. CIS is what M.S. is diagnosed as until there is a second episode.
- Relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS): The most common M.S. 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 M.S. (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 M.S. (SPMS): This is an almost transitional form of M.S. that progresses from RRMS to PPMS.
Applegate’s Health Journeys With Multiple Sclerosis and Breast Cancer
Applegate has been living with multiple sclerosis since August 2021. The disease impacts the central nervous system and can cause numbness or tingling in your limbs. The diagnosis came more than a decade after she dealt with breast cancer in 2008.
“With the disease of MS, it’s never a good day,” Applegate previously wrote in her Instagram post.
“Having MS f—ing sucks…You just have little s—– days,” she said.
She explained how her symptoms are impacting her daily life.
“With the disease of MS, it’s never a good day,” Applegate previously explained to Vanity Fair.
She said everyday activities like taking showers, using stairs, and carrying things are all challenging.
Applegate’s Breast Cancer Journey
Applegate’s breast cancer journey began in April 2008 at just 36 years old.
“I went through five weeks of work without telling anyone that this was going on in my life,” she said during a CNN interview.
Applegate said she had dense breasts and would need more thorough examinations for her routine mammogram screenings.
“He suggested that I get an MRI,” the actress said.
Dr. Connie Lehman, Chief of the Breast Imaging Division at Mass General Hospital, says dense breast tissue is more challenging to see through.
WATCH: What to know about dense breasts.
“The fatty breast tissue has a gray appearance, so an X-ray beam just runs right through it. But the dense structures block the X-ray. And so that looks white. Unfortunately, cancers also block the X-ray, so cancers also look white. When you have a white cancer hiding in white, dense breast tissue, it can be missed,” Dr. Lehman explains.
Women with dense breasts are recommended a 3D mammogram, which can better see through dense breasts.
When Applegate underwent an MRI screening, something was off.
“They found some funky things going on [in one breast],” she said.
A biopsy confirmed her diagnosis, but luckily, the cancer was caught early. Despite her prognosis, she was still very concerned with her diagnosis. She then turned her worry into determination, and she focused her efforts on beating the cancer. She underwent a lumpectomy, which is a procedure that removes the tumor and some of the surrounding tissue. For early-stage breast cancer, studies have shown that lumpectomy plus radiation is as effective a treatment in preventing breast cancer recurrence as mastectomy.
Applegate then underwent six weeks of radiation, using high-energy beams aimed at the cancer cells to kill them.
During treatment, she then learned she tested positive for the BRCA gene, increasing her risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer.
“That sort of changed everything for me. Radiation was something temporary, and it wasn’t addressing the issue of this coming back or the chance of it coming back in my left breast. I sort of had to kind of weigh all my options at that point,” she explained.
The harmful variant of BRCA1 or BRCA2 is inherited from either or both of your parents. So, each offspring of a parent who carries the mutation has a 50% chance of inheriting it.
WATCH: Testing for the BRCA gene mutation.
“Patients with a strong family history of breast cancer or ovarian cancer or patients who have a diagnosis of a couple of breast cancers in their lifetime will be at higher risk,” University of Maryland breast medical oncologist Dr. Kate Tkaczuk explains.
The actress’ doctor gave her treatment options, but she ultimately opted for a double mastectomy, which removes both breasts to reduce her cancer risk. When a woman undergoes a double mastectomy, it is a personal and emotional decision that impacts how they feel about themselves.
“It just seemed like, ‘I don’t want to have to deal with this again. I don’t want to keep putting that stuff in my body. I just want to be done with this,’ and I was just going to let them go,” she explained.
Just before the procedure, Applegate said she staged her “first and last nude photo shoot” so she could remember her breasts. Just before the surgery began, Applegate admitted she began to cry.
“The floodgates just opened up, and I lost it…It’s also a part of you that’s gone, so you go through a grieving process and a mourning process,” Dr. Tkaczuk explained.
“A double mastectomy typically takes about two hours for the cancer part of the operation, the removing of the tissue,” Dr. Elisa Port, Chief of Breast Surgery at Mount Sinai Health System, tells SurvivorNet. “The real length, the total length of the surgery, can often depend on what type of reconstruction [a patient] has.”
WATCH: What happens during a double mastectomy.
Dr. Port adds that most women opt to have some reconstruction. The length of these surgeries can vary. When implants are used, the procedure can take two to three hours (so the total surgery time would be around five hours). There is also the option to take one’s own tissue (usually from the belly area) and transfer it into the breast area, but this is a much longer procedure.
Since Applegate’s breast cancer journey began, she’s advocated for women to undergo the necessary screenings for early detection.
Questions for Your Doctor
If you are diagnosed with MS or may be 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?
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