Jamie-Lynn Sigler Reveals She Almost Died from Sepsis After Surgery, Which Kicked Off ‘Year of Grieving’

“I had never in my life been more sad, felt more low,” Sigler recalled feeling after the incident, adding that she allowed herself to "break down and cry"

<p>Andrew H. Walker/AWNewYork/Shutterstock </p> Jamie-Lynn Sigler

Andrew H. Walker/AWNewYork/Shutterstock

Jamie-Lynn Sigler
  • During an episode of her podcast, Jamie-Lynn Sigler revealed a post-surgery complication she faced two years ago that left her "this much away from death"

  • The star shared how the incident helped her define 2023 as a “year of grieving"

  • Sigler noted that since she identified and let herself feel those emotions, she was able to turn over a new leaf and come to terms with what she had been through in life

Jamie-Lynn Sigler is opening up about a near-death experience she had about a year ago.

The Big Sky actress, 43, revealed on her MeSsy podcast with Christina Applegate that soon after returning to the U.S. from an ashram in India, she had experienced a post-surgery complication.

“A little less than a year ago now is when I went to India, and I lived at this ashram, and I had felt so awakened and connected and peaceful… two weeks later, I had a very bad reaction to a surgery and got sepsis and was in the hospital and almost died,” Sigler shared.

"I never told anybody this,” she continued. “Two weeks after a year ago, right now, I was in a hospital literally, like, this much away from death.”

<p>Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty</p> Jamie-Lynn Sigler

Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty

Jamie-Lynn Sigler

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Sigler noted that this was one of the incidents that defined 2023 as her “year of grieving.” She said she allowed herself to “break down and cry” and “feel that stuff” before turning to a professional for help guiding her through her emotions.

“I had never in my life been more sad, felt more low,” the actress recalled. "But what I learned from India was I had an inability to escape it. I had to sit in it. I would scream in pillows, I would cry to girlfriends… I reached out, I sat by myself, I got a therapist, I did all of these things I had never really done before and went through this process that was absolutely necessary.”

“And I feel like you owe it to yourself to cry and really, really go there,” she added while encouraging Applegate, 52, to do the same. “Because how else are you going to have to bring it to the light?”

Related: Christina Applegate Says She Has Faced ‘Real Depression’ Due to MS Diagnosis: ‘Trapped in Darkness’

The Sopranos alum said since she let herself feel those emotions, she was able to turn over a new leaf and come to terms with what she had been through. That dark moment in 2023 was a stark contrast to how she felt earlier this year after going in to get her annual MRI checkup to see how her multiple sclerosis (MS) was progressing.

Sigler, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) when she was 20 years old, said her diagnosis had been “stable” for about 8-9 years, but she still felt frustrated doing physical therapy and trying to be healthy without seeing any improved results.

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However, her doctor sat her down and told her “to take the responsibility off the table” that she could “change” her body or that she “didn't do enough or did too much or whatever it was.”

“And it was a moment I really needed to have,” she admitted. “It felt like it took so much pressure off of myself that I need to constantly be fixing myself or changing myself or healing myself."

"It felt like it was translating into, like, my spirituality and just trusting. The universe has my back," she recalled. "And it was a moment I desperately, desperately needed to the point where I even walked out, and my husband was like, ‘Your vibe is very different. You just feel a lot lighter.’ And I do."

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