Celine Dion announces that she has a neurological condition, she canceled her shows

Well this just sucks. Celine Dion posted an emotional video yesterday that she’s canceling her European dates indefinitely. That’s unfortunate, but it’s the reason why she’s canceling that’s truly sad. Celine told her fans she’s suffering from an extremely rare neurological disorder called Stiff Person Syndrome. So rare, it affects something like 1 in a million people. Celine first canceled her tour due to the pandemic. She canceled it again in January for health reasons. However, in April, she announced her 2022 show would be rescheduled to 2023. That’s the tour that is now shelved. The reason is Stiff Person Syndrome affects every part of her being, including her vocal cords and movement.

Céline Dion revealed Thursday morning that she’s been diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome, a rare and incurable neurological disease that can cause debilitating muscle spasms.

In a tearful video posted to her Instagram account in both English and French, the Canadian singer said her condition would force her to postpone and cancel a series of upcoming concert dates.

“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,” Dion, 54, wrote in the posts caption. “It hurts me to tell you that I won’t be ready to restart my tour in Europe in February.”

“Recently, I’ve been diagnosed with a very rare neurological condition called Stiff Person Syndrome, which affects something like one in a million people,” she said in her video. “While we’re still learning about this rare condition, we now know that this is what has been causing all of the spasms that I’ve been having.”

“Unfortunately, these spasms affect every aspect of my daily life,” Dion continued. “Sometimes causing difficulties when I walk and not allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way I’m used to.”

[From People via Just Jared]

Celine has been through so much. Her husband of 21 years, René Angélil died in 2016 (same day as Alan Rickman – it was my birthday). Her three sons were 14 and 5 (twins) at the time. She maintained her Vegas residency until 2018 to ensure her kids financial future and then in 2020, her mother passed away. And now, just as she’s getting over that, she has her own health to deal with. Plus, Celine’s therapy, beyond actual therapy, has been fashion. Only now that’s curbed too because this syndrome causes spasms that can overtake the person at any time. So Celine can’t strut down a street unassisted in her out-there outfits any more. The years since René was diagnosed have been rough for poor Celine and her boys.

I won’t pretend I’ve ever heard of this disorder prior to Celine’s announcement. You can read more about it here. It does not sound great. Fortunately, Celine has the resources to get the best care and physical therapy possible, as she said in her video. Also good is I do not read anywhere that it’s fatal. However, it does sound progressive, and I don’t see much in the way of a reversal. But, again, I really know nothing about it. Celine did not say she’s retiring, she’s just postponing – again. And she truly is astonishingly honest. So she believes she’ll be able to tour again, therefore I’m going to believe that to. But what I really want is for her to rest and get the help she needs right now. So I’ll send her all the positive energy I can. Hope for the best and think about how much good she’s done just by highlighting this disease that I’m sure I’m not the only one hearing about for the very first time.

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