In an upcoming primetime interview with the Broadcast todayHoda Kotb's Celine Dion describes the excruciating pain she endured as she battled the rare neurological condition Stiff Man Syndrome. “It's like someone is strangling you,” Dion said in a clip of the conversation aired on Today's show on Friday morning (June 7), the singer's first interview since revealing her diagnosis in 2022. “It's like someone is pushing your larynx/pharynx like that [raises voice]. “It was like you talk like that and you can't go higher or lower. He goes into a convulsion.”
In fact, Dion, 56, said, the convulsions caused by the disorder can become so severe that they have caused painful physical injuries. “I have broken ribs in one spot because sometimes when it's really bad it can break a rib,” he said.
The rare disorder can cause uncontrollable muscle spasms that make movement difficult and forced Dion to cancel her planned 2023 tour after her sister revealed the singer had “no control” over her muscles. Her long road to managing the disease is the subject of the upcoming documentary I'm: Celine Dionwhich will debut on Prime Video on June 25.
In addition to affecting her voice, Dion said the muscle spasms and stiffness associated with Stiff Person Syndrome can migrate to other parts of her body, including her spine, legs and abdomen. “I have the feeling that if I point my legs, they will stay in a (stuck position), or if I cook – because I like to cook – my fingers, my hands, will reach a position. They're cramps, but they're in a position where you can't unlock them.”
Dion told Kotb that she initially started having trouble controlling her voice after noticing symptoms in 2008, saying she initially thought things would be “fine.” But when muscle spasms and stiffness in her arms and legs became more apparent, she realized something serious was going on with the disease, which is chronic and progressive but can be treated with medication. “She's in the fight of her life right now,” Kotb said in Friday's morning preview.
In an interview with French Vogue In April, Dion said she's undergoing therapy five days a week to strengthen her voice and work on moving her joints, but she still doesn't know if or when she'll return to the stage. “I can't answer that… Because for four years I told myself that I'm not going back, that I'm ready, that I'm not ready,” she told the magazine. “As it stands, I can't stand here and say, 'Yes, in four months.'
The full interview will air as a one-hour special on NBC on Tuesday (June 11) at 10 p.m. ET. Watch a preview of Kotb's sit-down on Dion below.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/celine-dion-singing-stiff-person-syndrome-strangling-interview-1235703548/