Jamie-Lynn Sigler says her 11-year-old son Beau is doing “really, really well” after being diagnosed with a rare inflammatory autoimmune disorder, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM).
“I’m proud of him, and he comes out on the other side and so, as far as I’m concerned as a mother, I’m much better off too,” The Soprano family actress, 43, tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview about her new campaign for Alexa Emergency Assist, a personalized safety service available through the Amazon Echo device.
ADEM is an acute, rapidly progressive autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord and is usually caused by inflammation from a previous infection or immunization, according to the National Institutes of Health. Sigler first revealed her son’s “nightmare” diagnosis on Instagram on Aug. 6, writing that what first seemed like a “normal virus” soon “turned into a nightmare.”
Speaking to PEOPLE weeks after that diagnosis, Sigler says her family’s life has slowly “stepped back to normal.”
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Jamie-Lynn Sigler reveals son Beau was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder after contracting a virus
Speaking just hours after her second son, Jack, 6, left for his first day of school, Sigler reflected on the turmoil of recent weeks and the importance of maintaining a safety plan at home in case of medical emergencies.
“Overall, I think between my own health and now, with the special things with my kids, it’s always been really important for my family to have the confidence and the knowledge and the tools to know what to do in an emergency,” Sigler, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) at age 20, she tells PEOPLE.
Mike Coppola/Getty
She continues, “We can talk to our kids about what to do, but in that moment, God forbid, in an emergency, it seems like all of those things can fly out the window. There’s panic, everyone gets nervous.”
Sigler, her husband Cutter Dykstra and their sons have Alexa Emergency Assist (AEA) programmed into all of their home Echo devices. The program allows users to quickly connect with trained emergency responders who can request the dispatch of emergency services in times of need.
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Jamie-Lynn Sigler uses Alexa Emergency Assist.
Amazon
“I travel a lot for work, my husband travels a lot for work. By the time we leave [the boys] with perfectly capable caregivers, the ability to feel empowered to protect themselves teaches them to prioritize safety,” says Sigler.
Since the boys don’t have phones, a device that provides easy access to emergency services — and the ability to call neighbors and family friends in an emergency — is paramount.
“One of my children has severe allergies to certain medications. I have mine [MS]my other son has his own specific things … all the things that you would have to explain to a first responder, the EMS agents do that for you,” Sigler says of AEA. “That peace of mind, that if I’m not here, everything if that information can be transferred … I can’t express myself enough [how important that is.]”
Due to his own diagnosis of MS. Sigler says her sons always understood the importance of health and safety. Now, with Beau’s recent diagnosis, that knowledge has become even more crucial.
“I’m proud of them. I really feel that they are well supported and loved, because we have an open dialogue about everything,” she says. “I often use the word ’empowered’ because I want to give them the confidence to know themselves, their bodies, their situations, what they need and to ask for help.”
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Jamie-Lynn Sigler uses Alexa Emergency Assist.
Amazon
Jamie-Lynn Sigler’s 10-year-old son Beau leaves hospital 33 days after ‘nightmare’ diagnosis
Sigler has been very public about her MS diagnosis, even hosting a podcast, MeSsy, about it with friend and fellow actress Christina Applegate.
“We are in a good time, because it is [once] I felt it was taboo to talk about things you might have struggled with or things that bothered you. Through the conversations I have with Christina and through the podcast, I think we understand the strength she gives us and the beautiful things she has brought to our lives. Like asking for help and getting help,” says Sigler.
She continues: “Even in this situation with my son, it was very difficult for me to ask for anything. But because it was in my life, but because it was for him, I had no problem. Seeing the village, the community and the outpouring of love was is one of the greatest gifts from this experience.”
Sigler adds that the help she received from health workers and the wider community was touching and necessary.
“You want to protect them from everything,” Sigler says of her boys. “Especially in this situation we’ve just been through, peace of mind is more important now than ever.”
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Source: HIS Education