Multiple award-winning singer Céline Dion has been living with symptoms of stiff person syndrome for 17 years, a new documentary titled “I Am: Céline Dion” reveals.
The documentary details her life with the condition, including insights from her physician, Dr. Amanda Piquet, director of the autoimmune neurology program at the University of Colorado School of Medicine Anschutz Medical Campus. Dr. Piquet explains the challenges Dion faces when dealing with the illness.
In one scene, Dion is shown undergoing a physical therapy session shortly after recording a new song, “Love Again.” During the session, she performs standard exercises with her physical therapist as part of her treatment regimen aimed at improving her health and enabling her to perform again.
However, she soon experiences cramping in one of her legs, and within minutes, her entire body tenses up to the point where she cannot speak, move, or even change her facial expression, grimacing in pain.
As the medical crisis unfolds, Dion sheds tears. Her doctor asks her to squeeze his hand if she can hear him. Although she remains motionless and curled up, she manages to show him that she is aware of her surroundings.
During this scene, Dion is administered a benzodiazepine nasal spray. Dr. Piquet explains that this medication, part of a class of depressant drugs, helps relieve anxiety and reduce muscle
Piquet says, “That anxiety, that panic, that continued spasm that was not breaking then very quickly triggered just a complete whole body spasm.”
“It’s not a seizure,” Piquet clarifies. “This is a spasm that is occurring, and patients are aware of what’s going on. There’s a lot of anxiety, there’s a lot of panic, your adrenaline’s rushing.”
The film’s director, Irene Taylor, recalled what it was like to witness this scene
“It was the most extraordinarily uncomfortable moment in my life, as a filmmaker but also as a mother, as a fellow human, because I didn’t know what was happening,” Taylor said to TODAY’s Hoda Kotb.
“I had this uncertainty whether to keep filming or not. But (Céline) gave me the strength to just keep going. We had been filming together for many months at that point, so she had really trained me, ‘Just keep going. If I have to stop you, I’ll stop you.’”
“Her body was enduring something that was unimaginable, and I wasn’t sure if she was aware of it,” Taylor continued. “I wasn’t sure if she was going to survive it. It’s really hard to even sit next to her and talk out loud about it because it was very intense.”
