Christina Applegate turned 50 years old on Thursday, which she celebrated by sharing some perspective on her battle with multiple sclerosis.
“So, I just turned 50. The cards are coming, but my MS diagnosis kept me from being able to celebrate. Maybe tomorrow will be another day,” she wrote in a widely shared post on Instagram. “For now, it’s a story about boundaries, courage, and coming to terms with what’s actually happening.”
In 2015, Applegate was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease, which attacks the nervous system and affects movement, speech and vision. She became the face of a $1 million joint campaign between the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Food and Drug Administration and the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research to educate doctors and patients about the disease.
After six months of treatment, Applegate released the groundbreaking documentary “Living With MS,” which she co-directed with daughter Sadie Gordon and Martin Schreiber. In the film, she shares her struggles and loves about her life with the disease, all while advocating for other women with MS and encouraging them to find strength and find hope.
“This film has had a profound impact on me, and there is still so much more to tell,” Applegate wrote on Instagram on Thursday. “There is no way for me to start my next 50 years doing all I want, all I care about, all I have ever done.”
Instead, Applegate, who stars in the television show “Mama’s Family,” will take some time to reflect and focus on what’s next in her life. She offered some words of wisdom to other women battling the disease.
“MS is not an obstacle, it’s a challenge,” she wrote. “Not a crisis, a roadblock. I came to realize that I have the greatest superpower of all. My own mind. My choice. My voice.”