On Friday July 26, Celine Dion marked her comeback on stage during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
• Also read: Claudette Dion admits to having trivialized Céline's symptoms when the latter spoke to her about them for the first time
• Also read: “It’s wonderful that thanks to Céline Dion on the Eiffel Tower, everyone is singing Piaf today,” says Nathalie Lermitte, who plays Édith Piaf in “Piaf symphonique”
From the first floor of the Eiffel Tower, Charlemagne's diva offered a moving rendition of The hymn to love by Edith Piaf. However, behind this professionalism lies an incurable and debilitating illness which has affected him for 17 years.
Forced to cancel her last tour, Céline Dion had to resort to a prolonged rest. His return was made possible thanks to the valuable support of his neurologist, Amanda Piquet.
The first to have diagnosed the stiff person syndrome from which Céline Dion suffers spoke on BFMTV. “She came to see us at University Hospital in Denver. She had symptoms similar to many patients, painful and debilitating spasms. So we started working together,” revealed the neurologist.
In 2023, Celine Dion increases her trips to Denver and starts a treatment protocol. “Stiff person syndrome is a progressive autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system,” explained Amanda Piquet. You receive conflicting messages of contractions and stretches, which causes muscle spasms. And one thing led to another, difficulty walking.”
Although Celine Dion has made a successful comeback, her fight against this disease is far from over. “Even with our best treatments, we do not make the disease disappear. But it can be managed, I often draw a parallel with diabetes. There are ups and downs, but when you find the appropriate treatment, there are more good days than bad,” concluded the specialist.
