Jamie-Lynn Sigler has opened up about being a mother with multiple sclerosis.
Jamie-Lynn Sigler
The 37-year-old actress has two sons Beau, five, and Jack, two, with her husband Cutter Dykstra and has admitted that living with the condition - which affects the central nervous system, disrupting the flow of information within the brain and between the brain and body - not only affects her but her entire family but her struggles have made her a "strong" person.
In an essay for Shonaland.com, she wrote: "MS - any chronic illness, really - becomes your whole family's disease, not just your own. It affects our daily choices, and while sometimes I resent that, it has also made me see how strong I am."
Jamie-Lynn - who is best known for portraying Meadow on 'The Sopranos' - also revealed that she worries that her condition would prevent her from protecting her kids if they were caught up in a shooting because she wouldn't be able to make a quick escape.
She said: "I had to have the talk with my husband about what we'd do in the worst of circumstances, where I thought out loud, 'If there ever was a mass shooting, you have to take the kids and run, and trust I will do my best to stay safe.' Just thinking about this still makes me tear up."
Jamie-Lynn was diagnosed with MS 17 years ago but only decided to go public with her condition in 2016.
The actress admits she was "terrified" when she found out she was pregnant with her first baby six years ago and worried about not being able to be the "fun mom" who can play and be active with her kids.
She wrote: "A million thoughts ran through my head. What if he runs off and I can't chase him one day? What if I can't carry him up and down the stairs? What if he won't want to play with me because I can't be the 'fun mom' who runs on the beach with him, or chases him around the house?"
Tagged in Jamie-Lynn Sigler