Sufjan Stevens Hospitalized, Relearning To Walk After Guillain-Barré Left Him Immobile
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Sufjan Stevens, the Oscar-nominated indie singer-songwriter, has been hospitalized with Guillain-Barré syndrome and is relearning to walk after the neurological disorder left him with what he says was “no strength, no feeling, no mobility.”
In a Tumblr and Instagram post, Stevens addressed his slow recovery and ongoing hospitalization, explaining why he has not been participating in “press and promotion” for the upcoming Oct. 6 release of his album Javelin.
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“I’m very excited about having new music to share,” he writes, “but I just wanted to let you know that one of the reasons why I haven’t been able to participate in the press and promotion leading up to the release of Javelin is bc I am in the hospital. Last month I woke up one morning and couldn’t walk. My hands, arms and legs were numb and tingling and I had no strength, no feeling, no mobility.”
He signed the post, “yours truly from a wheelchair, Sufjan Stevens.”
See the entire Instagram post below.
Stevens, who also posted a photo of himself in the hospital, continued, “My brother drove me to the ER and after a series of tests—MRIs, EMGs, cat scans, X-rays, spinal taps (!), echo-cardiograms, etc.—the neurologists diagnosed me with an auto immune disorder called Guillian-Barre Syndrome. Luckily there’s treatment for this — they administer immuno-hemoglobin infusions for five days and pray that the disease doesn’t spread to the lungs, heart and brain. Very scary, but it worked. I spent about two weeks in Med/Surg, stuck in a bed, while my doctors did all the things to keep me alive and stabilize my condition. I owe them my life.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, Guillain-Barre syndrome is “a rare disorder in which your body’s immune system attacks your nerves. Weakness and tingling in your hands and feet are usually the first symptoms. These sensations can quickly spread, eventually paralyzing your whole body.”
Stevens writes that on Sept. 8, he was transferred to “acute rehab,” where he is now undergoing intensive physical and occupational therapy “to get my body back in shape and to learn to walk again.”
“It’s a slow process, but they say I will ‘recover,’ it just takes a lot of time, patience, and hard work,” he writes. “Most people who have GBS learn to walk again on their own within a year, so I am hopeful.”
Stevens’ first solo album since The Ascension in 2020, Javelin includes two singles that were released in recent weeks: “Will Anybody Ever Love Me?” and “So You Are Tired.” The singer-songwriter-guitarist had his mainstream breakthrough with 2005’s Illinois, which included the hit single “Chicago,” a song featured in the 2006 film Little Miss Sunshine and later used as the opening theme for Netflix’s 2019 series The Politician. “Chicago” was also used in a 2022 episode of FX’s The Bear.
Stevens received an Oscar nomination in the Best Original Song category for “Mystery of Love,” featured in the 2017 film Call Me by Your Name. He performed the song on the 2018 Oscar broadcast.
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