is grateful to have friends like in her corner, especially leaning on her “‘MeSsy” podcast cohost while she dealt with her 10-year-old son Beau’s recent health scare.
“I really felt a deep sense of community and support after sharing and I really appreciate Christina for really talking me into it, too,” Sigler, 43, exclusively told Us Weekly while discussing her partnership with Amazon Devices and Alexa Emergency Assist (AEA). “[Christina was] telling me that [our ‘MeSsy’ podcast] was going to be the safe place for me to do it ’cause she was somebody I was on the phone with from day one in the emergency room when I didn’t know what was going on.”
The Sopranos alum further told Us that working together on “MeSsy” helped their friendship grow. “[It’s] these two women learning to lean on each other and trust each other and the evolution of our friendship and the evolution of our journeys and our growth with being vulnerable with each other,” Sigler said. “I think that that’s like the lesson that we’re trying to tell and give more than anything is just the beauty and the love that can come from that. I think, you know, to teach other women that this is possible and that this is necessary for life. Life is messy. Whether it’s MS, your kids, your family, your job. We all have stuff that we’re dealing with all the time. And you should never be dealing with it alone.”
Sigler added that opening up publicly about her son’s health journey also helped her find her own voice.
“It was a release that I needed. And, you know, it’s very personal. I share about a lot of my life, but not everything,” she revealed. “But I think that I really also wanted to share what I was going through because I really found my voice during it because I’m advocating for my son and his life, like understanding that strength that brought out in me and that I wanted to give to other mothers and women, not only for themselves but for their loved ones.”
Sigler continued, “I’ve had a lot of people hold my hand as I’ve walked and navigated this, but we are seeing the light and we are on the other side.
Sigler, who shares sons Beau and Jack with husband , recently confirmed that her eldest son was diagnosed with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), a rare autoimmune disease marked by sudden inflammation in the brain and spinal cord. After 33 days in a local hospital, Beau was discharged earlier this month.
“He’s healing; he is a miracle before eyes,” Sigler told Us. “He’s working hard and fighting hard and, you know, those moments in your life where they bring you to your knees and they feel like it couldn’t get any worse, but at the same time, like you get the most beauty of life. I have felt that tenfold.”
She added, “I think that this has just been, even from my own friends telling us that they’ve just been so moved by the power of community and a village and that they are forever changed [by] this situation. It’s just been a ripple effect of a lot of love and a lot of beautiful things — as hard as it’s been to go through as a family and as a mother. And just to watch my son have to go through this, I’m humbled by the beauty that’s come from it as well.”
Beau is now recovering with Sigler telling Us that he is talking and walking again.
“He has regained so much,” she said. “You know, brain healing takes time and there’s some cognitive things that we’ll continue to work on through therapy, but we’ve had incredible care at Dell’s Children’s Hospital. They’ve just been amazing and our friends have been amazing. We have the highest of hopes.”
Sigler continued, “He is gonna be OK and I’m just so grateful for that.”
Dealing with Beau’s health scare inspired Sigler to get involved with Amazon’s Alexa Emergency Assist program.
“I think for any family, we talk about having an emergency plan,” she said. “You can have the conversations with your kids, you can feel like you’re well-prepared, but the truth of the matter is … in those real emergency situations, a lot of those things go out the window. Alexa Emergency Assist gives my family the confidence, the knowledge and the tools that they need that in case of an emergency.”
The AEA can store important information regarding medications, allergy history, emergency contacts and any other relevant information to help first responders when they arrive on the scene.
“You’re immediately put in touch with an urgent response agent, who will identify the situation and then be able to dispatch the first responder that you need with all of your personal information given to them,” Sigler said.
With reporting by Andrea Simpson
