Patti Scialfa, Bruce Springsteen’s wife and a longtime member of his E Street Band, says she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2018.
Scialfa, 71, revealed her battle with blood cancer in a new documentary about her husband that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday. In the film, Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Scialfa says she received the diagnosis while she and her husband were doing a run of shows on Broadway six years ago.
“Touring has become a challenge for me,” Scialfa, who joined the E Street Band as a guitarist and singer in 1984, says in the film, according to People. “In 2018, well, Bruce and I were doing a play on Broadway. I was diagnosed with early stage multiple myeloma.”
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The condition is a blood cancer that develops in plasma cells in bone marrow—cells that normally help fight off infections, according to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.
“This affects my immune system so I just have to be careful what I choose to do and where I choose to go,” Scialfa says in the film. “Every once in a while, I come to a show or two and I can sing a few songs onstage, and that’s been a treat. That’s the new normal for me right now, and I’m OK with that.”
Scialfa, who has been married to Springsteen since 1991, did not attend the premiere of the film on Sunday, according to The Washington Post. During a post-screening panel, Springsteen did not directly address his wife’s illness, but alluded to her absences from shows while talking about the privilege of being in a band that has been together for decades.
“When Patti’s able to make it, I can see her there,” he said, according to the Post. “I’m not alone. You’re risking everything you have, but you’re not alone.”
