I figured out how to use the HTTP node which supports digest and pass the cookie along to the SSE node.
Here's the flow in case someone runs into the same issue:
[{"id":"830c8b80.f89718","type":"inject","z":"f194162.538f0e8","name":"Start / Restart / Unpause stream","topic":"","payload":"","payloadType":"date","repeat":"","crontab":"","once":false,"onceDelay":0.1,"x":290,"y":520,"wires":[["5944b091.17285"]]},{"id":"de79afb2.f459b","type":"inject","z":"f194162.538f0e8","name":"Pause stream","topic":"","payload":"","payloadType":"date","repeat":"","crontab":"","once":false,"onceDelay":0.1,"x":350,"y":640,"wires":[["31c2c1a4.b6aabe"]]},{"id":"3e4f28c7.35f5c8","type":"debug","z":"f194162.538f0e8","name":"Display event","active":true,"tosidebar":true,"console":false,"tostatus":false,"complete":"true","x":980,"y":560,"wires":[]},{"id":"31c2c1a4.b6aabe","type":"change","z":"f194162.538f0e8","name":"","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"pause","pt":"msg","to":"true","tot":"bool"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":580,"y":640,"wires":[["50364aa0.f4b3d4"]]},{"id":"fc7709e7.f95788","type":"inject","z":"f194162.538f0e8","name":"Stop stream","topic":"","payload":"","payloadType":"date","repeat":"","crontab":"","once":false,"onceDelay":0.1,"x":350,"y":600,"wires":[["fc633663.b0ce48"]]},{"id":"fc633663.b0ce48","type":"change","z":"f194162.538f0e8","name":"","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"stop","pt":"msg","to":"true","tot":"bool"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":590,"y":600,"wires":[["50364aa0.f4b3d4"]]},{"id":"50364aa0.f4b3d4","type":"sse-client","z":"f194162.538f0e8","name":"","url":" http://10.10.99.8/stream/meter","events":["message"],"headers":{},"proxy":"","restart":true,"rejectUnauthorized":false,"withCredentials":true,"timeout":"10","x":810,"y":620,"wires":[["3e4f28c7.35f5c8"]]},{"id":"5944b091.17285","type":"http request","z":"f194162.538f0e8","name":"","method":"GET","ret":"txt","paytoqs":false,"url":"http://10.10.99.8/installer/setup/home","tls":"","persist":false,"proxy":"","authType":"digest","x":530,"y":520,"wires":[["5e0c1620.061b18"]]},{"id":"5e0c1620.061b18","type":"function","z":"f194162.538f0e8","name":"Set Cookie","func":"msg.headers = {'Cookie': 'sessionId=' + msg.responseCookies.sessionId.value};\nreturn msg;","outputs":1,"noerr":0,"x":730,"y":520,"wires":[["50364aa0.f4b3d4"]]}]