Since Christina Applegate announced that she had been diagnosed with MS last year, she’s kept the details of her health private, save for a few tweets here and there. Now the actor is opening up about her multiple sclerosis diagnosis and how it has affected her this past year.
Applegate publicly announced her diagnosis in a tweet last August, telling fans, “A few months ago, I was diagnosed with MS. It’s been a tough road. But as we all know, the road keeps going. Unless some asshole blocks it.” In a new interview with the New York Times, she said that, looking back, there had been symptoms before she was officially diagnosed — numbness and tingling in her extremities, a lack of balance. “I wish I had paid attention,” she said. “But who was I to know?”
At the time, she was filming season three of Dead to Me, the Netflix dramedy she stars in opposite Linda Cardellini. Production reportedly shut down for five months so she could begin treatment and reassess. “There was a sense of, ‘Well, let’s get her some medicine so she can get better,’” she said. “And there is no better.” Applegate said she took the time to grieve and “process my loss of my life, my loss of that part of me.” But, she added, that doesn’t mean she is at peace with her MS. “Acceptance? No. I’m never going to accept this. I’m pissed.”
The powers that be at Dead to Me reportedly considered shutting down the show for good, but Applegate insisted on returning, saying, “We’re going to do it, but we’re going to do it on my terms.” With the premiere of the final season fast approaching, the actor is slowly getting ready to be back in the public eye. Last week, she shared a photo of her new walking sticks on Twitter, telling fans that she was preparing for her “first time out since diagnosed with MS.”
She also seems to be preparing fans for her post-diagnosis return. “This is the first time anyone’s going to see me as I am,” she told the Times. “I put on 40 pounds; I can’t walk without a cane. I want people to know that I am very aware of all of that.”
