{"id":87279,"date":"2024-06-11T12:03:45","date_gmt":"2024-06-11T16:03:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2024\/06\/11\/celine-dion-vows-to-fight-on-against-stiff-person-syndrome-for-sake-of-sons-i-dont-want-them-to-be-scared\/"},"modified":"2024-06-11T12:03:45","modified_gmt":"2024-06-11T16:03:45","slug":"celine-dion-vows-to-fight-on-against-stiff-person-syndrome-for-sake-of-sons-i-dont-want-them-to-be-scared","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2024\/06\/11\/celine-dion-vows-to-fight-on-against-stiff-person-syndrome-for-sake-of-sons-i-dont-want-them-to-be-scared\/","title":{"rendered":"Celine Dion Vows to Fight On Against Stiff-Person Syndrome For Sake of Sons: \u2018I Don\u2019t Want Them To Be\u00a0Scared\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\tCeline Dion<\/a> was diagnosed with the rare autoimmune and neurological disorder Stiff-Person Syndrome in 2022, six years after she lost the love of her life, husband Ren\u00e9 Ang\u00e9lil, to throat cancer. Now, in an People<\/a><\/em> magazine cover story, the singer reveals that her three sons with Ang\u00e9lil are the driving force behind her relentless fight against the disease that can cause painful muscle spasms and difficulty breathing and walking.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tCeline Dion Explains Why She Finally Went Public With Stiff Person Syndrome Diagnosis: \u2018I Could Not\u2026\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\n\t\u201cI barely could walk at one point, and I was missing very much\u00a0living.\u00a0My kids started to notice. I was like, \u2018Okay, they already lost a parent. I don\u2019t want them to be scared,’\u201d said Dion, 56, of the reactions from Ren\u00e9-Charles (23) and 13-year-old twins Nelson and Eddy. \u201cI let them know, \u2018You lost your dad, [but] mom has a condition and it\u2019s different. I\u2019m not going to die. It\u2019s something that I\u2019m going to learn to live with.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile the symptoms of the chronic disorder began appearing in the mid-2000s, they got progressively worse, until Dion made the announcement in Dec. 2022 that she\u2019d been diagnosed with the incurable ailment that caused her to cancel a planned tour that year. Dion talks about the difficult road to recovery in the upcoming Prime Video documentary I Am: Celine Dion<\/em> (June 25) in which she vows to find a way to make it back on stage for her fans. \u201cIf I can\u2019t run, I\u2019ll walk<\/a>,\u201d she says in the film. \u201cIf I can\u2019t walk, I\u2019ll crawl\u2026 I won\u2019t stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNBC has been previewing tonight\u2019s (June 11) one-hour primetime special sit-down with Dion in which the powerhouse Canadian vocalist described the decision to come clean with her fans, saying, \u201cthe burden was like too much.\u201d In a previous preview, Dion described the agonizing pain she\u2019s endured, saying it feels like \u201csomebody is strangling you<\/a>\u2026 It\u2019s like somebody is pushing your larynx\/pharynx this way [raises voice]. It was like talking like that, and you cannot go high or lower. It gets into a spasm,\u201d adding that she\u2019s broken ribs as a result of the powerful spasms caused by the disorder.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the latest teaser, Dion said she\u2019s spent her entire life in the industry being a performer and \u201cloving every moment of it,\u201d pointedly adding, \u201cthis passion will never go away.\u201d Speaking to the Today Show<\/em>\u2018s Hoda Kotb, Dion says she began to feel like something was off when her body was getting \u201cmore rigid\u201d during a show in Germany on her 2008-2009 Taking Chances tour when her vocal cords began to spasm and she described being \u201cvery, very, very scared.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe panic led to more spasms and she immediately noticed her vocals were getting more nasal, so she lowered the keys on the songs in order to gain a measure of control over a situation she could tell she could not control. In the documentary, Dion admits to lying to her precious fans at the time and blaming her issues on a sinus infection, but in hindsight, she tells Kotb, she should have taken the time to figure out what was actually going on at a time when husband Ang\u00e9lil was fighting for his life.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cLying for me\u2026 the burden was too much,\u201d Dion tells Kotb. After a decade of testing and treatment Dion got her answer, which she shared with her fans in a 2022 statement<\/a>. Now, after years of intense physical therapy, vocal rehab and medication, Dion vows to Kotb that she will be back on stage some day, \u201ceven if I have to crawl\u2026 even if I have to talk with my hands. I will. I will.\u201d Kotb hints that Dion has already planned her return to stage, but has not yet announced when that will be. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe\u00a0full interview will air during a one-hour primetime special on NBC on Tuesday (June 11) at 10 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n

\n\tWatch a preview of tonight\u2019s NBC special below.<\/p>\n

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