Story Behind ‘The Big Sick’: Actor Opens Up About Wife’s Illness

‘The Big Sick’ is about Still’s disease, a very rare form of arthritis which affects 1 in 100,000-500,000 people.

The movie dealt with a very important health concern - Still’s disease.

‘The Big Sick’, the story of a Pakistani Muslim falling in love with an American, hit theatres in 2017 and wooed audiences all over.

While the movie explored the obstacles faced by two people in a relationship who come from disparate cultures, it also dealt with a very important health concern – Still’s disease, a form of arthritis.

The disease is as rare as 1 case in 100,000-500,000 people and is marked by the inflammation of body organs, fever, sore throat and rashes on the skin. The age group it affects is 18-40 years.

The film written and directed by Kumail Nanjiani is based on his own real-life story of meeting and falling in love with Emily V Gordon, the co-writer of the film.

Following the success of the film, Gordon, also an author, has also become an advocate for those suffering from the disease while talking about her own experiences publicly, said The Washington Post.

She was put in a medically induced coma eight months after meeting Nanjiani, while the doctors grappled to figure out what was going on with her body. Once the disease had been diagnosed, the coma ended. In a series of tweets, Nanjiani mentioned his first interaction with Gordon’s family while she lay unconscious:

The treatment for Still’s is an ongoing process for Gordon. Nanjiani helps her with this all along, she told Hollywood Reporter.

My parents call him my lion, and he really is. At times when I’m not great at self-care, he will force me to be good about it.

Emily V Gordon

She has to get sufficient, on-time sleep and get a proper diet with regulated amount of alcohol, said The Washington Post.

(With inputs from The Washington Post.)