A brand new documentary about Céline Dion and her analysis of stiff individual syndrome (SPS) is within the works, with Amazon MGM touchdown the worldwide rights to the movie.
The documentary, titled I Am: Céline Dion, follows the Quebec chanteuse as she is identified with SPS and navigates her first yr dwelling with the neurological situation.
“This last couple of years has been such a challenge for me, the journey from discovering my condition to learning how to live with and manage it, but not to let it define me,” Dion, 55, mentioned in an announcement.
Dion shares that she is optimistic in regards to the future and nonetheless plans to return to singing.
“As the road to resuming my performing career continues, I have realized how much I have missed it, of being able to see my fans. During this absence, I decided I wanted to document this part of my life to help others who share this diagnosis.”
The synopsis for the doc reads: “From visiting her couture touring wardrobe and personal effects to spending time in the recording studio, the documentary captures a global megastar’s never-before-seen private life. An emotional, energetic, and poetic love letter to music, I Am: Celine Dion captures more than a year of filming as the legendary singer navigates her journey toward living an open and authentic life amidst illness.”
The documentary, which is able to air on Prime Video Canada, has but to be given a launch date.
Dion first revealed her analysis to the general public in December 2022, saying the illness doesn’t permit her “to sing the way I’m used to.”
She cancelled the remainder of her world tour final May, apologizing to her followers.
“I’m so sorry to disappoint all of you once again,” she mentioned in an announcement. “I’m working really hard to build back my strength, but touring can be very difficult even when you’re 100 per cent.
The transfer got here after she postponed her return to her Las Vegas residency in 2021, citing medical points.
This previous December, Dion’s sister, Claudette Dion advised French-language information website 7 Jours that her sister can now not management sure physique motion, however that the final word aim is “to return to the stage.”
“In what capacity? I don’t know,” she added.
And a number of months earlier, in August, Claudette mentioned that one other of their sisters, Linda, had moved in with Dion to assist together with her care.
“When I call her and she’s busy, I speak to my sister Linda who lives with her and tells me that she’s working hard. She’s listening to the top researchers in the field of this rare disease as much as possible,” Claudette advised Le Journal on the time.
The explanation for SPS, an especially uncommon illness, remains to be unknown, in response to Yale Medicine, “but researchers suspect that it may be the result of an autoimmune reaction where the body attacks nerve cells in the central nervous system that control muscle movement.”
The title doesn’t do justice to the ache and life-changing signs the syndrome causes, Tara Zier, founding father of the Stiff Person Syndrome Research Foundation, advised The Canadian Press final yr.
“A lot of people have challenges with mobility. Many have assisted devices for mobility, walkers, wheelchairs. Some people are bedridden,” she mentioned.
FILE – Celine Dion introduced in May she is cancelling her “Courage” world tour as she continues to obtain therapy for stiff individual syndrome.
Graham Hughes / The Canadian Press
The Stiff Person Syndrome Research Foundation says “the most common symptoms of SPS are muscle rigidity, stiffness and spasms in the muscles of the trunk including the back and limbs.”
These could be triggered by environmental stimuli, like loud noises or emotional stress.
“The muscle spasms can be so severe they cause the person to fall down. The muscles gradually relax after the stimulus is gone,” the Yale Medicine web site states.
While there is no such thing as a treatment for SPS, when medical doctors deal with sufferers with this situation, Yale Medicine says they concentrate on managing the signs with drugs “such as sedatives, muscle relaxants, and steroids.”
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