I Don’t Have a Lot of Fight in Me Right Now

MeSsy with Christina Applegate & Jamie Lynn Sigler

Hosts Christina Applegate and Jamie Lynn Sigler discuss a period of low energy and motivation while navigating personal health challenges. T

Key takeaways

• Jamie Lynn Sigler shares her current struggle to maintain physical therapy and healthy habits due to low energy levels.
• Listener Sarah highlights how mobility aids like scooters and van lifts have increased her freedom and independence.

Main topics

• Living with Multiple Sclerosis
• Parenting with Chronic Illness

Notable quotes

I don't got a lot of fight in me right now.

Conclusion

The episode serves as a powerful reminder that while MS is unpredictab

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) Hi, I'm Christina Applegate. And I'm Jamie Lynn Sigler. And this is Messy. Speaker 2 (0:16) Hello, everybody, and welcome to Messy. It's Jamie, if you can't hear. I've got some sort of plague. I don't know. It's not COVID. It's not a flu. Nobody can diagnose me. I've tried antibiotics. That did nothing. So here I am with a stuffy nose. I apologize in advance if this is very annoying to listen to. But here we are. I don't have much to update you on my personal life in the moment. Maybe some of your emails will spark something with me, but Speaker 1 (0:51) I'm Speaker 2 (0:51) just kind of, I'm in one of those moments in my life where I'm just taking it day by day. I don't feel, to be honest, like I have, and that's like excluding this cold, like even before that, like a lot of energy to do much. I don't got a lot of fight in me right now. I haven't been doing a lot of physical therapy. I haven't been moving my body. I haven't been eating good. Like, I mean, I've been eating good, but not great. Like, not doing any of the things that I know will make me feel good. And I'm actually just trying to be okay with that. Just trying to give myself permission to not be a warrior, to not be a perfect patient, to just... Be a human that's tired and not motivated, a little uninspired, and just wanting to be a blob that exists. I mean, listen, I've still got a lot of... Speaker 2 (1:54) responsibilities on my plate, but I'm not doing anything extra. And that is okay. I think, can someone else tell me it's okay? Because I just keep trying to tell myself, Allison's telling me it's okay. Thanks, Allison. But anyone else that wants to remind me that it's okay, I would appreciate it because I need it. Okay. This is our first email and it is from Jonathan. Speaker 2 (2:18) Jamie, I wanted to thank you for your interview with your son, Beau. I have two children, 13-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter, and they only know their dad as having MS. I was diagnosed in 2016, and my son was too young at the time to really remember. There have been many times during my 10-year journey with MS where I wondered if I was doing a good enough job of being a parent. Are they going to have a normal childhood because of my illness? Are they going to feel different from other kids because of me? Your interview and your son's candid, thoughtful answers made me tear up throughout the whole interview and made me realize that children are stronger than we give them credit for, and everything will be okay. This came at just the right time for me, and I will forever be grateful. Thank you for having a great podcast and being an advocate for all of us with MS. Thank you, Jonathan. Oh, Jonathan, well. I am so touched and so glad that my talk with Bo. Speaker 2 (3:19) reached you and touched you the way that you did and also made you realize how strong and resilient your kids are. You know, I think we've talked about it before. We put, we project so much of our struggle and what we think this is going to do to our kids because we care so much onto them. And, you know, I really had no idea where the conversation with Beau was going to go. I gave him no prep other than I said, dude, I want you to be honest with me. This is your time. This is not your time to impress mommy or make me feel better or sound cool. Like give answers from your heart. And he did. And I'm really proud of him. But I'm also really proud that. I was able to really understand him more. He and I don't have a lot of conversations like that. So if this felt like a prompt for you to do this with your kids, hallelujah, do it. And it made me realize like, I'm going to do these check-ins not often so that they don't get tiresome or they don't feel like they have to give me answers that I may be looking for, but even like a yearly check-in, you know, maybe we'll come up with like a good easy list of questions to like, talk about with your family and your kids, if we can think of some, even from the ones that I talked about with Beau. But again, I really didn't know where that conversation was going. I didn't know how it was going to go. Allison and I didn't know if we were ever going to put it out. And I was just really pleasantly surprised and proud of him. And more than anything, so happy to see the way it resonated with so many of you, because I know that we share so many of the same feelings and insecurities. More than any other area in life, I think, when it comes to our chronic illness and our kids. All right, this next message is from Sarah. Dear Messy team, I have been listening since day one. I'm so excited for this pod and I am so grateful. Thank you. My name is Sarah. I am 49. I've had a mess since 2012. Difficulty with the legs, mostly. And now I've had three back surgeries last year. Oh my God. I'm healing. I'm always healing. I'm using a walker now, trying to get back to using the poles. I have a scooter too. My boyfriend just got me a lift for the van for the back, so I drive the scooter on and get out. It lifts it up, puts it in the van, and has changed my life completely. Along with the hand controls, I feel so free and mobile. I saw a bunch of movies with my 11-year-old stepson and 6-year-old daughter this summer. I'm able to go to all the things and do everything, almost, except for run, of course. I just want to share that so people are not so scared to get these assistive devices. I did get a bi-acre walker that I love because it is so light and so easy. Best one I've tried so far. It's like the Ferrari of walkers, but I think 100 % worth it. Also, not a paint spose person yet. Speaker 1 (6:18) She means her, not me. Speaker 2 (6:20) Anyway, I've recorded a bunch of emails to send to the pod, but only managed to actually send a few. I'm grateful for your bravery and honesty. Listening makes me feel so seen. Like you girls are my friends and I talk about you like one of my best friends. I was worried when my daughter was a baby that it'd be hard to make mom friends, but I found that honestly, I find my people. I try to lead with that in my life, like when my Gigi started kinder. I joined the school WhatsApp group and introduced myself. You'll probably notice me. I'm the mom with the walking aid. I find myself at school events that people that I don't really know come up to me and talk to me a lot. I think it's because they can easily recognize me because I have the mobility aids and maybe because I put it out there. I find the more open I am, the better and easier everything is. I just can't thank you enough for the Montel Williams interview. It was so amazing. Your Speaker 1 (7:13) husband Speaker 2 (7:13) was amazing to hear. I really could understand what my boyfriend goes through and his fears and his stresses. Like your husband, he literally and figuratively carries so much for me and my family, and I am so grateful. And then the interview with Bo. Bo, Bo, Bo. I teared up as soon as I saw his face at