Celebrity
Celine Dion Reveals She’s Diagnosed With Incurable Neurological Disease
“I’ve been dealing with problems with my health for a long time.”
Celine Dion revealed that she’s been struggling with a rare neurological condition in a recent video update, before adding that she’s postponing her tour and canceling some shows in 2023.
Her diagnosis is called Stiff Person Syndrome and affects one in a million people. It causes people to go into “statue” mode due to uncontrollable spasms.
SPS doesn’t have a cure, but there are treatments to slow down the progress. Celine shows her determination to fight the disease and expresses her wish to return to the stage to sing while holding back her tears. The 54-year-old spoke in the video, “Hello everyone, I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to reach out to you. I miss you all so much and can’t wait to be on stage talking to you in person.”
“As you know, I’ve always been an open book and I wasn’t ready to say anything before but I’m ready now. I’ve been dealing with problems with my health for a long time, and it has been really difficult for me to face my challenges and to talk about everything that I’ve been going through.”
“Recently, I’ve been diagnosed with a very rare neurological disorder called the stiff person syndrome, which affects one in a million people.”
“While we’re still learning about this rare condition, we now know this is what’s been causing all the spasms I’ve been having. Unfortunately, these spasms affect every aspect of my daily life, sometimes causing difficulties when I walk and not allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way I’m used to.”
“It hurts me to tell you today that this means I won’t be ready to restart my tour in Europe in February. I have a great team of doctors working alongside me to help me get better and my precious children who are supporting me and giving me help.”
“I’m working hard with my sports medicine therapist every day to build back my strength and my ability to perform again but I have to admit it’s been a struggle. All I know is singing it’s what I’ve done all my life and it’s what I love to do the most. I miss you so much. I miss seeing all of you being on the stage performing for you.”
“I always give 100 percent when I do my show but my condition is now allowing me to give you that right now.”
“For me to reach you again, I have no choice but to concentrate on my health at this moment, and I have hope that I’m on the road to recovery. This is my focus, and I’m doing everything I can to recuperate. I want to thank you so much for your wishes and love and support on my social media. This means a lot to me.”
“Take care of yourselves. Be well. I love you guys so much and I really hope I can see you again real soon.”
She’s shared the new tour dates in a poster for the rescheduling of the concerts and which ones have been cancelled.
Concerns about her health began when she canceled her Courage World Tour in North America earlier this year. And before that, the “Queen of Las Vegas” had to cancel her Las Vegas comeback over similar reasons. According to her site, she was suffering from “severe and persistent muscle spasms.”
“I was really hoping that I’d be good to go by now, but I suppose I just have to be more patient and follow the regimen that my doctors are prescribing,” she later spoke.
“There’s a lot of organizing and preparation that goes into our shows, and so we have to make decisions today which will affect the plans two months down the road. I’ll be so glad to get back to full health, as well as all of us getting past this pandemic, and I can’t wait to be back on stage again.”
“Meanwhile, I’ve been very touched by all the words of encouragement that everyone’s been sending to me on social media. I feel your love and support and it means the world to me.”
The mom-of-three
