CELINE Dion has opened up about sharing her medical diagnosis with her sons.
The Canadian musician admitted she didn’t want her children to be “scared” and had to speak to them after they started noticing her condition.
“I barely could walk at one point, and I was missing very much living. My kids started to notice,” she told People.
“I was like, ‘Okay, they already lost a parent. I don’t want them to be scared.
“I let them know, ‘You lost your dad, [but] mom has a condition and it’s different. I’m not going to die. It’s something that I’m going to learn to live with,” the outlet reported.
Celine, 56, first revealed her diagnosis on Instagram in December 2022.
The star shared with her fans that she had Stiff Person Syndrome.
Due to her health issues, she was forced to cancel her global tour.
“I’ve been dealing with problems with my health for a long time, and it’s been really difficult for me to face these challenges and to talk about everything that I’ve been going through,” she said in her video.
The singer delivered her message while holding back tears, with the symptoms of her condition preventing her from taking the stage.
Stiff Person Syndrome is incurable, but medications and physical treatments can make the condition easier to live with.
OPENING UP
Almost 2 years after revealing her rare diagnosis, Celine is willing to open up about her health and how her life has changed.
Celine Dion admits singing feels like ‘someone is strangling her’ in emotional interview on stiff person syndrome battle
Her documentary, I Am: Celine Dion, is set to be released on Prime Video on June 25th.
In the trailer for the film, Celine took fans inside of her home, and also showed off moments with her family.
The star also revealed her struggles and physiotherapy, while talking about how much she missed performing.
Most cryptically, she hinted that her condition wouldn’t stop her from creating music again.
What is Stiff Person Syndrome?
Celine Dion stepped out of the spotlight after she was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune condition
Stiff-Person Syndrome is a rare neurological disorder that progresses overtime.
The condition causes pain and muscle spasms that worsen over the years.
According to Contact A Family, the condition is characterized by “progressive stiffness and painful spasms in the back and limbs, which are often triggered by touch, noise or anxiety, and exacerbated by movement.”
There is currently no cure, but death from the condition is rare.
Strong spasms to the chest can sometimes cause difficulty breathing.
After a montage of herself performing live, Celine wept as she admitted, “I miss it so much.”
At the end of the trailer she took on a more positive note as she proclaimed, “If I can’t run, I’ll walk. If I can’t walk, I’ll crawl…” before returning to the studio.
‘TOO MUCH’
Celine spoke even further about her illness while on The Today Show late last month.
She opened up about the spasms she suffers, and also shared that she opened up about her diagnosis because it was “too much to carry.”
“I couldn’t do it anymore,” she said, adding that figuring out her illness wasn’t instant: “We did not know what was going on. I did not take the time.”
“Lying for me, the burden was too much. “Lying to the people who got me where I am today. I could not do it anymore,” she later divulged.
