Celine Dion promised her children that she was "not going to die" after being diagnosed with Stiff Person syndrome.
© Celine Dion/Instagram
The 56-year-old singer - who has René-Charles, 23, and twins Nelson and Eddy, 13. with her late husband René Angélil - was diagnosed with the rare condition that commonly causes muscle stiffness and painful spasms that come and go and can worsen over time in 2022 and after finding that she could "barely would", she had to face telling her children about her ordeal.
She told People: "I barely could walk at one point, and I was missing very much living. My kids started to notice. I was like, 'Okay, they already lost a parent. I don't want them to be scared.
"I let them know, 'You lost your dad, [but] mom has a condition and it's different. I'm not going to die. It's something that I'm going to learn to live with.'
The 'My Heart Will Go On' songstress: "I've been dealing with problems with my health for a long time, and it's been really difficult for me to face these challenges and to talk about everything that I've been going through
Celine - whose husband died following a battle with throat cancer in 2016 at the age of 73 - cancelled the remaining dates on her Courage World Tour last year as a result of her health problems - which she documents in the new feature-length documentary 'I Am: Celine Dion' - and explained that she "can't answer" if she will ever be able to get back on stage.
She said: "I can’t answer that… because for four years I’ve been saying to myself that I’m not going back, that I’m ready, that I’m not ready.
""As things stand, I can’t stand here and say to you: ‘Yes, in four months.’
"I don’t know... my body will tell me. On the other hand, I don’t just want to wait."
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