Some seven months after her son Beau was hospitalized for 33 days with a rare autoimmune condition, Jamie-Lynn Sigler is now sharing some of the harrowing details of his fight for life.
The Sopranos star confessed that while she waited helplessly in the hospital, and her son lost the ability to eat, walk and talk, she felt ‘terrified’ that ‘he was going to die.’
‘Those were the hardest days I’ve ever had in my entire life,’ Sigler, 43, told People of her time at Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin, Texas last summer. ‘It was probably the most helpless I’ve ever been.’
And while the now 11-year-old boy was able to recover and walk out of the hospital with a smile on his face in mid-August, the memories of Beau’s time in the intensive care unit still remain fresh in his mom’s mind.
The family crisis all began last July when the oldest of her two sons with husband Cutter Dykstra, 35, suffered a week of high fever and headaches, and the inability to urinate.
‘He was screaming in pain,’ the actress revealed, resulting in Beau being admitted to the children’s hospital, where he was diagnosed with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, or ADEM, which causes inflammation of the central nervous system that can develop after a viral or bacterial infection.
Jamie Lynn Sigler, 43, is now sharing some intimate details of her son Beau’s fight for life last summer, and his ultimate recovery from the rare autoimmune condition, ADEM
The Sopranos star confessed that while she waited helplessly in the hospital for 33 days she felt ‘terrified’ that ‘he was going to die’; mom and son are seen after his recovery in Sept 2024
Beau’s conditions got worse each day over the next two weeks that saw him lose his ability to walk and talk, which then continued on the downward spiral.
‘Then he couldn’t eat or move his mouth,’ Sigler explained, resulting in the little boy losing 25 lbs. ‘There was nothing recognizable about my son.’
For the better part of a month, the anguished mother stayed by her son’s bedside at the hospital while Dykstra cared for their younger boy Jack, seven.
But as time went on Sigler was able so make a connection between her Beau’s ADEM diagnosis and her many years of experience managing the challenges of multiple sclerosis (MS).
‘It was wild to watch my son have neurological issues that mirrored mine in very many ways. My experience understanding the body and inflammation and the brain helped,’ she shared.
‘From 6 a.m. till 8 p.m., I was on it. I was a coach. I would speak to him and tell him he could do it,’ she said, admitting, ‘The nights were when I could fall apart and just be a mom and be completely heartbroken and terrified.’
During the ordeal the Jericho, New York native leaned on the support of family and friends, including her MeSsy podcast co-host Christina Applegate, whom she revealed ‘was there for me in a really scary moment.’
In fact, Sigler admitted the experience was the first time she was able to ‘accept help because it wasn’t for me in that moment — it was for Beau.’
For the better part of a month, the anguished mother stayed by her son’s bedside at the hospital while husband Cutter Dykstra, 35, cared for their younger boy Jack, seven
After losing to ability to walk, talk and eat with his mouth, Beau finally left the hospital in mid-August, which was captured in an emotional video celebrating her his departure
The now 11-year-old got high-fives upon his release after 33 days, including a stay in the ICU
While Sigler says Beau has rebounded physically he’s still recovering psychologically, but his relationship with his younger brother Jack is much improved since the ordeal
The actress, wife, and mother is currently in the process of writing a memoir
But ultimately, after 33 days, Beau was to recover enough to be able to walk and skip out of the hospital as health care workers and fellow patients cheered him on, which led to his mom feeling eternally grateful for the care he received at Dell’s Children Hospital.
While Beau is back in school, back on his baseball team, and working with a personal trainer to regain his strength, Sigler maintains there’s still more to go in his road to full recovery, including the psychological toll of the trauma that can sometimes be the greater challenge.
‘My son is different than the 10-year-old Beau that entered the hospital in July,’ the Here To Heaven star shared. ‘We joke, calling him Beau 2.0.’
She added, ‘The person that’s really benefited from what happened this summer is my little one, Jack, because they don’t fight anymore!’
Sigler, who has been married to Dykstra for nine years after four years of dating, is currently in the process of writing her memoir.
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