As she learns more about the uncommon condition and how it affects her life, Céline Dion shared in an emotional Instagram video on Thursday morning that she has been diagnosed with Stiff-Person Syndrome, forcing her to postpone and reschedule several future concert dates.
According to the Stiff Person Syndrome Foundation, stiffness, crippling pain, chronic anxiety, and muscle spasms “so powerful they can dislocate joints and even break bones” are some of the symptoms of this uncommon and incurable neurological disorder that affects the brain and spinal cord.
Only one out of every million persons have received a diagnosis.
Maureen Materna is one of them. She was diagnosed with the ailment in 2011, and the 74-year-old Ohio lady opened up to the media about what it’s like to live with it.
It’s a terrible illness, she declares. “I actually don’t think they’ve done too much research because it’s so uncommon, but maybe now that Celine Dion has received this, they’ll conduct more research. It only exists in one person in a million. What the heck is Stiff Person Syndrome, they’ll ask me when I visit the doctor. I have no idea what that was.”
Materna first noticed significant leg, back, and foot discomfort when she was 64 years old. She remembers having 45-minute-long foot cramps regularly.
She has always been active and worked out, so when the pain continued, she rushed to the emergency department immediately. All tests, meanwhile, came back negative, and Materna appeared to be in excellent physical condition. Before she received an answer, two years and multiple doctors were required.
“I saw at least 20 different medical professionals, including back, foot, and rheumatologists. No one was aware, “She clarifies. “They would either come right out and say there’s nothing wrong with you, you’re fine, or they would say I had a parasite.”
