Céline Dion is going through a rough time with her battle with Stiff-Person Syndrome. The singer recently got candid about her struggles, revealing that she could barely walk at one point.
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It's particularly hard for her children to watch her go through all of this. "I barely could walk at one point, and I was missing very much living. My kids started to notice. I was like, 'Okay, they already lost a parent — I don't want them to be scared,'" Dion said via People. "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."
Dion has been closed-off about her personal problems until now. But she recently began to open up about some of the difficulties of her disorder. "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.
Céline Dion Talks About Her Disorder
Dion also said that she didn't take time to properly understand her disorder. Other things in life distracted from her own health battles. "I did not take the time — I should have stopped, take the time to figure it out," she said. "My husband as well was fighting for his own life. I had to raise my kids, I had to hide. I had to try to be a hero."
One of the major things with the disorder can be the pain. She said that she deals with both cramps and spasms. She's even broken ribs as a result of the disorder.
"It can also be in the abdominal, can be in the spine, can be in the ribs. But it feels like if I point my feet, they will stay in a (stuck position), or if I cook — because I love to cook — my fingers, my hands will get in a position," she explained. "I have broken ribs at one point because sometimes, when it's very severe, it can break some ribs as well."
However, she refuses to let the disorder beat her. She said that she's going to keep pursuing her dreams.
"It didn't take anything away from me. I'm going to go back onstage, even if I have to crawl. Even if I have to talk with my hands, I will. I will," she said. ""I am Céline Dion, because today my voice will be heard for the first time, not just because I have to, or because I need to. It's because I want to and I miss it."
