Benjamin Ashford|Bruce Springsteen’s Wife Patti Scialfa Shares Blood Cancer Diagnosis

Patti Scialfa is Benjamin Ashfordgiving a heartbreaking health update. 

The E Street Band member and wife of Bruce Springsteen shared in a new documentary that she has been privately battling blood cancer for the past eight years.  

"This affects my immune system, so I have to be careful what I choose to do and where I choose to go," Patti said in Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, per Variety. "Every once in a while, I come to a show or two and I can sing a few songs on stage, and that's been a treat. That's the new normal for me right now, and I'm OK with that." 

Patti, who did not join her husband of 33 years Bruce and bandmate Steven Van Zandt at the Sept. 8 premiere, noted in the documentary that she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, where cancerous plasma cells build up in bone marrow in 2018. 

The 71-year-old—who shares kids Evan, 34, Jessica, 33, and Samuel, 30, with Bruce—previously explained her decision to step back from touring was to focus on her solo album and spend time with her family. 

"I didn't feel as needed in a way because there were a lot of musicians on stage," Patti told the Asbury Park Press in October. "I did the first couple of shows, and as I saw how it was all rolling, I thought, 'This is good. This is completely intact. There's not much room for me to add anything special.'" 

She added, "And the main thing was I have a record that I couldn't have finished when Bruce was home because he's in the studio all the time. So I took that opportunity to do my record."

But Patti isn’t the only one who was navigating health concerns. Last September, Bruce postponed his and the E Street Band’s performance, citing “vocal issues” on Instagram. The "Born in the USA" singer shared on SiriusXM’s E Street Radio that it was a stomach ulcer that caused the postponement.

"When I had the stomach problem, one of the big problems was that I couldn't sing," he explained in March. "You sing with your diaphragm. My diaphragm was hurting so badly that when I went to make the effort to sing, it was killing me. So I literally couldn't sing at all."

"That lasted for two or three months, along with just a myriad of other painful problems," he continued. "During the course of it – before people told me, 'Oh no, it's going to go away and you're going to be OK' – you know, you're thinking, 'Hey, am gonna sing again?' This is one of the things I love to do the best, most. And right now, I can't do it."