Celine Dion Battles Debilitating Disorder

 Despite the best efforts of her physicians and loved ones, Celine Dion is struggling to find relief from the debilitating pain caused by the rare disorder that has kept her from performing over the past year, reports The L-A Times.

“It’s an illness we know so little about,” said Claudette Dion, the sister of the “My Heart Will Go On” singer, who has served as Celine’s spokesperson in recent months. In a recent interview with Hello!, she shared an update on her sister’s stiff-person syndrome, which the Grammy winner was diagnosed with in December, forcing Celine, 55, to step away from performing and has since left the public eye.

And as the pain continues, there’s little her family can do, she said.

“There are spasms — they’re impossible to control,” Claudette, 74, continued. “You know people who often jump up in the night because of a cramp in the leg or the calf? It’s a bit like that, but in all muscles. There’s little we can do to support her, to alleviate her pain.”

There is no treatment that cures stiff-person syndrome, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine, which described the condition as a “rare autoimmune neurological disorder that most commonly causes muscle stiffness and painful spasms that come and go and can worsen over time.” In some cases, some people experience other symptoms, such as, unsteady gait, double vision or slurred speech.

The lack of treatment for the disorder has left few options for Dion and her family, with Claudette adding, “We’re crossing our fingers that researchers will find a remedy for this awful illness.”

Following a successful tour before the start of the pandemic in 2020, Dion started to feel the spasms, causing her to gradually pause and postpone performance for treatment. After starts and stalls to her return, she revealed her diagnosis in December, canceling her 2023 shows.

Last month, Dion’s sister gave the first update in months about the hitmaker’s condition, commenting to Le Journal de Montréal that “she listens to the great researchers studying this rare disease as much as possible,” and added, “We can’t find medicine, but giving hope, I find that is important.”

This week, Claudette assured the public that her sister is making good on her promise to continue fighting: “She’s doing everything to recover — she’s a strong woman.”