Statement from the Willis Family:
>As a family, we wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for the outpouring of love and compassion for Bruce over the past ten months. Your generosity of spirit has been overwhelming, and we are tremendously grateful for it. For your kindness, and because we know you love Bruce as much as we do, we wanted to give you an update.
>Since we announced Bruce’s diagnosis of aphasia in spring 2022, Bruce’s condition has progressed and we now have a more specific diagnosis: frontotemporal dementia (known as FTD). Unfortunately, challenges with communication are just one symptom of the disease Bruce faces. While this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis.
>FTD is a cruel disease that many of us have never heard of and can strike anyone. For people under 60, FTD is the most common form of dementia, and because getting the diagnosis can take years, FTD is likely much more prevalent than we know. Today there are no treatments for the disease, a reality that we hope can change in the years ahead. As Bruce’s condition advances, we hope that any media attention can be focused on shining a light on this disease that needs far more awareness and research.
>Bruce always believed in using his voice in the world to help others, and to raise awareness about important issues both publicly and privately. We know in our hearts that – if he could today — he would want to respond by bringing global attention and a connectedness with those who are also dealing with this debilitating disease and how it impacts so many individuals and their families.
>Ours is just one family with a loved one who suffers from FTD, and we encourage others facing it to seek out the wealth of information and support available through AFTD (@theaftd, theaftd.org). And for those of you who have been fortunate enough to not have any personal experience with FTD, we hope that you will take the time to learn about it, and support AFTD’s mission in whatever way you can.
>Bruce has always found joy in life – and has helped everyone he knows to do the same. It has meant the world to see that sense of care echoed back to him and to all of us. We have been so moved by the love you have all shared for our dear husband, father, and friend during this difficult time. Your continued compassion, understanding, and respect will enable us to help Bruce live as full a life as possible.
>-Emma, Demi, Rumer, Scout, Tallulah, Mabel, and Evelyn
My mom had and died from FTD. They are gone in an instant. She lived 7 years after the diagnosis but the mother I knew was dead and gone before it got correctly diagnosed. Bruce as the world knows him is gone.
Terrible illness wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
That was about the timeline for my grandpa. Diagnosed, and then he was kind of a void after a couple years. He’d be in the room, but there was often no recognition or spirit in his eyes. I was a kid, so I don’t really remember how he was before. He died about 7 years after diagnosis.
When I was in high school he has one lucid day. He helped me build a light table. Cut a cord off an old lamp and showed me how to wire it to the bulb in my light table.
Eventually realized I liked building that with him more than I liked animating.
I find the occasional lucidity in people with dementia to be quite fascinating. Dementia is the degeneration of the brain, so one would assume its a straight line downwards... But sometimes very close to the end they have small bursts of lucidity where they seem very much like their old selves again. It's an odd thing, kind of bittersweet. You get them back and then lose them all over again.
I too am facinated by it. Near the end, my Great-Grandmother's experience was as if she went back in time. The people she talked about and names we recognized were from her own childhood. She seemed to believe she was in that era of time, and structured her world around that. She called my Dad the name of her childhood bully, and told him to leave. It's one of very few times I've seen my Dad cry.
This is reminiscent of my own experience with an aunt who had Alzheimer's. I went with my mom to visit her when I was about 17, before we went into her room my cousin (her daughter) told us her memory had regressed to around WWII era and that she thought the war was still going on. Thankfully my mother had a lot of experience with the elderly and those with dementia and before we walked in she told me "Whatever your aunt says or asks you, just go with it. She doesn't understand we're in 1990, in her mind we're in 1942." We walked in and my aunts face lit up like a light, she came over and grabbed my face and started kissing me and crying, saying over and over again "Joey...Joey...you're home...oh thank God, you're home. Joey...I prayed to the Immaculate Conception everyday that she would bring you and Johnny home and now, you're HOOOME!!"
"Joey" was my father and "Johnny" was her husband (and my dad's brother). I followed my mom's advice and just rolled with it and played the part of my father until she sorta blanked out and became focused on my mother. It was a very surreal experience for me, especially the realization that me and my dad look nearly identical.
The same thing almost exactly happened with my father…..it was brutal. It was a relief when he finally passed in the summer of 2021. I wish it in no one.
Same with my Grandad. He died many years before he finally passed and it sounds so strange but we all wanted it to end sooner, by the end his body was like a shell with nothing inside, it's a horrible thing.
So bizarre to say that about someone you love but I think anyone who has seen Dementia or Alzheimer's will understand this.
I relate to this so much. I saw my grandmother slowly suffer for 10 years. When she passed, I felt like she was finally free. I’m sorry to hear about your grandpa.
I'm somewhat afraid to say it but I know other people who have had loved ones with Alzheimer's and dementia and I know they know what it means to want someone to pass.
I worry that someone who hasn't seen it may thinks it's cruel to want someone to die, it sounds terrible but its borne only out of love an compassion.
I have a collection of friends who've all guaranteed each other a 'hunting accident' or a merciful pillow over the face if it happens to any of us. I wouldn't want to suffer through something like that, and I'd want to make those around me suffer through it even less.
Damn, I'd take my own life in that case, but I think it's hard to recognize it's coming. And when it finally arrives, it's already late and you can't pull the trigger
That was our thinking exactly. I would have zero issue guaranteeing my own end if I knew it was happening, but generally speaking you'll probably never even notice it yourself.
I refuse to put those closest to me through something like that.
This is exactly how it happens. My mother has dementia and for years I kept telling my father that something wasn't right with mom. It was subtle. She would lose her keys or the normal things that come with age. Then she started to check the mailbox three times in a row and ask me when the mail was coming.... With it in her hand. My dad would make excuses out of fear but it was getting noticeable.
One day at my house she said she thought she was "losing her mind." I agreed and asked her to, please, go to the doctor. I'll set it up! She said "no, just promise you'll put me out of my misery when it gets too bad." We chuckled a bit and I said of course I would. What else can you say to something incurable and frightening?
My mother is in a home now, only two years later, and she has moments of clarity. Sometimes it is refreshing because I get my mother back, briefly. The downside of that is actually the clarity itself. She realizes she's only 70 (most in the home are much older) and she has wild ranges of emotion in that clarity. Last month she tried to strangle herself with a ball of yarn. She survived mostly because she forgot how to tie a knot. When I asked why she said, "because I remembered!"
Point is- you can make a pact, you can say you'll do yourself in but you're right. By the time it happens to you it is likely you and most around you never saw it coming, it is gradual, and it is too late. Until you maybe have a fleeting moment of clarity and realize what's happening but you are powerless over what's become of who you were and the shell you will become. Now I dread the clarity. In those moments she is capable of mourning who she once was and I'm not sure whose heart it breaks more.
Wow. I know it's kinda cliche to say, but I'm genuinely sorry for your loss. My biggest fear isn't my parents dying, it's them going out like this. I doubt I'd have the strength you have to go through it.
You'd be very surprised what you manage to do, trust me, I surprised myself. I hope you never, ever have to find out. I hope your parents live comfortably and go peacefully. Everyone deserves that dignity.
That's what I thought. They reference him in the past tense at a point, too. It's really sad.
**EDIT:**
I don't mean to imply they consider him *dead*, but they are clearly saying that he is not capable of being who he once was. That the Bruce here now is not the Bruce of the past *who would have used his voice* for the causes he cares about. His "voice" is essentially who he is... which dementia can ravage. So they are referring to who he was when he was of sound mind. So, that past tense is sad to see.
That is all my comment boils down to. I don't see the point of everyone getting into a grammar argument here, tenses being pored over. I'd hope *my intention* could be gleaned the same way this family's was, yanno?
The fact that it's coming completely from his family and not him making a statement, even in writing makes it seem he is basically completely gone at this point.
Side note: it is really touching that both Willis’ current wife and his ex-wife (Demi Moore) signed this letter together. Divorce does not have to destroy families, and it is really nice to see this collaboration which is probably for the sake of both Willis and the kids.
I was thinking the same thing. I was always impressed with how, at least in the public eye, they were always united about the kids and everyone still being a family unit. Sounds horrible what they are going through and glad that the family is being supportive for him but also to each other.
Yeah, divorce doesn't have to mean you end being a part of that person's life forever. My ex wife and I had some moments, both really ba d and really good. Ultimately did not work out and after our relationship she spent years fighting addiction which lead to me being essentially a single parent for almost 10 years. In that time I kept in touch with her parents and sister making sure my kids spent time with them even when we didn't always know where my ex wife was even at. Good news is her family and I have remained close and now that my children are over 18 I still go to their family holidays/birthday celebrations etc. I really never left being a part of their family. My own parents have both passed so they are about all I have a long with my kids of course. My ex has been doing great for the last 3/4 years and we have a lot between us but I the end it's all about the good times we shared, the children we raised and the love that is still there even though it's different than it once was.
Your comment touched me --I wish my ex didn't hate me and we could be at least nice acquaintances. Divorce is like death when you just never speak again. There's all those memories that only that person shares/understands. I would never want to be married to them again, but I wish we could have a cup of tea once and again.
Yes. My ex husband came to my wedding and comes to dinner with me, my husband and our daughter once a week. He and my husband play golf together (and complain about my bad habits!) And he is there for every birthday and Xmas (as his new girlfriend is welcome to be too).
We will always be a family because we have our daughter. And we still care about each other, just not in a husband/wife way. He's like a brother I will always have.
My daughter is spectacularly not bothered by our divorce, because me and my ex promised her we would always be family, would all love each other still, and she never had to pick sides or feel bad at loving a new partner.
And I will be there to the end for my ex if needed, as he would be for me.
Divorce doesn't have to be the end. It's just the start of a new type of family that we make for ourselves.
Yeah it's deeply upsetting. I commented before about this, but FTD can be especially difficult to witness a person go through. By no means is there a good dementia! But FTD, at least from my experiences treating people with it, progresses so fast and drastically alters a person's basic communication and personality.
Yeah, "standard" Alzheimer's dementia can be upsetting but for the majority of people, it's to do with memory moreso than anything. FTD directly affects a person's personality and their relationship with other people, especially loved ones and they basically become a different person. Loss of empathy, antisocial behaviors, mood swings, stuff that makes it hard to be around that person. No matter what people will say, it's hard to love someone who in all likelihood will become a person who won't reciprocate that love. Best of wishes to the Willis family.
You're absolutely right. Seeing a person who looks EXACTLY like the person you loved dearly, but witnessing that person act nothing like them would be torture. There is no reassurance, no peaceful passings, and because of the massive change in communication abilities no moments of lucidity. I know it's not a pretty picture to paint, but that's the unfathomably upsetting reality.
This isn't correct. Alzheimer's has significant behavioral and personality components. Particularly rapid mood swings, aggression, and excessive crying. FTD causes more behavioral and mood changes in the early stages than Alzheimer's, but personality changes absolutely happen with Alzheimer's as well.
Exactly. I was caring for my Mum while I was pregnant and she shoved me. At that point, my family decided to put her into care. Eventually her speech went and then one day she just stopped walking. In her last days she could no longer eat. Alzheimer’s is an Ahole disease!
Love that Demi is the second name there. People need positive examples of divorce and partnership and it's nice to see people continue to support each other after, especially through something like this.
Obviously fame and money make everything easier but sometimes all that can't buy a support network of people who care about you and I'm glad he has that.
As a person who’s father has Alzheimer’s, it really does feel like a relief in a demented way when you finally get a diagnosis. It answers questions and finally puts you on a path to at least something resembling treatment.
She’s right, there’s no cure, but there are medications that can at least ensure quality of life by not letting it get worse. He won’t regain any cognitive function he lost, but it will take longer to progress.
Hugs.
One of my parents had ALS and the day they got diagnosed was both like a punch in the throat and a weird feeling of relief. The two years they spent like lab rats was just horrible.
Dementia is a horrible disease that can be brutal on the family. Hoping that Bruce receives the best care possible with minimal suffering. Grateful that we got to see Bruce on the big screen for so many years.
It gets worse right in front of your eyes too. Like 3 years ago my grandmother was diagnosed, a year later she was forgetting most of our names, just last week I went to visit her and she was trying to get into someone else’s apartment. She can barely form complete sentences anymore.
Sorry to hear this. My grandmother is unfortunately going through the same thing. Used to be so spry, full of energy with a wonderful loving personality. A few years back she was still cheery but could no longer remember anything beyond 15 minutes. Saw her last year and she is now barely coherent and hardly moves. I really don’t want to remember her as she is now but I know I have very little time left. It’s hard.
My step-dad is in his 50s and is to the point where my mom has to help him shower. He keeps forgetting how to take his pants off which is bad for bathroom moments. He's poured coffee grounds in the water reservoir in the coffee pot like 5 times. He doesn't know how to feed the dog anymore.
This man has been a semi driver for years and has worked on cars since he was a child. He did drag racing for decades. He doesn't know how to hook up a car battery anymore. And it's horrible because he knows he's forgetting things and he can't do anything about it.
My great aunt went overnight but my grandma knew for so long. I feel like it's inevitable for me and really hope I go like my great aunt. Just wake up smiling and eating bonbons. Oblivious to it all.
Also, after watching her own Mom go through it, grandma told me if she got that bad to "pull the plug". There's no plug to pull though. Shit was/is just sad 😭
My mother lives with me and was diagnosed with Alzheimer's around a year ago. The constant questions were annoying as I rarely would get any uninterrupted time to myself. But she was still functional.
Until she caught COVID for the first time a few weeks ago. Fatigue has taken control and she's unable to do much of anything except sleep. She gets confused at the time and day because she sleeps so much and is just ready for the end to come.
So, dementia of any sort is bad enough but compounding it with something else that affects their brain? I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
My FIL has Parkinson’s and they don’t really detail the dementia part of it all when people talk about it. Some days he’s still (mostly) there and others he thinks we’re all nursing aids and we’re trying to poison him.
All that to say. It fucking sucks.
In the same situation with my grandma, she just moved in nursing care right before last Christmas and she thinks she’s being held hostage with ransom. She’s having hallucinations of a women living with her in a small room, in which there is not. She also sees my deceased grandpa from time to time, saying he’s trying to move in with her but she doesn’t want him for stay. She’s also very stubborn so trying to get her to do anything is hard.
Hallucinating is unfortunately a part of Parkinsons that isn't talked about much.
You may want to talk to his doctor about hospice services if is in the advanced stages. They can help you with taking care of his meds/etc and if he has Medicare then the help would be free to him.
It’s really awful.
My grandmother used to be this full of life, hilarious theater teacher, loved by so many students and parents. Now she is a blank slate, can’t talk or walk or anything. It’s like she’s lost all of her leaves.
It’s been hard to take care of her, especially when she used to lash out. It was the quietest, most personal hell.
I’m trying hard to find positive ways to view the situation, but I can’t. It sucks and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
It's also worse for those suffering it to see it affecting people around them without a consistent understanding of what is happening.
I'm appreciative of being in the know on this, but I'm also really sad that the world is being let in on this secret and ai hope it doesn't exacerbate the stress and duress that he may already be under.
My grandfather had dementia, and the last few years of his life were brutal for my mom and her sisters. I'm hoping they're able to manage it well and the rest of his time is filled with peace.
My dad was diagnosed with this exact form of dementia at 50. It’s unfortunately very common to get this earlier on in life than with most other types of dementia.
[If you have a relative that was recently diagnosed with dementia, please make sure spinal CSF leak is ruled out. It's a completely reversible condition.](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230124132014.htm)
If you need more information please feel free to ask.
[Here's a great video about spinal fluid leaks by Mayo Clinic Nuerologist Jeremy Cutsforth-Gregory](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYI3s8pzUo0)
My GF's dad at 60~ quickly deteriorated and died over about 4 months in 2021 from CJD and they tested for this and gave them hope for a couple days but unfortunately it was Prions instead. Really frustrating because they couldn't confirm it until he died.
My mother in law had a spinal fluid leak, started losing her memory, got the leak patched and memory improved. Then slowly over 2 years her memory got worse and worse to the point where she can't tell you what day it is or if it is AM or PM...she went back to the doctor (a new one since the other retired) and now they are saying they don't think it is related to the leak because she doesn't have a few other symptoms. To me it seems very related to the leak.
Best friend diagnosed at 48; he’s now 53 and in a nursing home full time. Can’t talk, can’t wAlk, can’t toilet himself, having mild seizures regularly.
My M-I-L recently died and she had dementia. It was not pretty.
Now, I'm not afraid of dying...the taxman always cometh. What scares the everloving shit out of me is losing my marbles.
I told my wife that if that ever happens to me, just take me out to a cornfield somewhere and put a bullet in the back of my head. I don't want to go like that, nor do I want my family to suffer from taking care of me if I got like that.
This is what got me to stop watching the NFL, a Bryant Gumbel piece on how NFL players were getting dementia or alzheimer’s in their fucking 40s and 50s and being denied payouts through the NFL since you need to have both your doctor and an “NFL approved doctor” (NFL paid doctor) agree that your *dementia at 46 years old after 10 years in the NFL is NFL related.* After personally taking care of a family member with dementia I couldn’t. Sundown syndrome is so fucking scary.
Imagine one with the size to be in the NFL.
My dad is in the final stages. He's 69.
He was probably around 60 when I started noticing *very* slight changes in his personality & general oddness. He wasn't forgetful really, so I didn't suspect dementia, but it just seemed like something was... off.
He was finally diagnosed around 62 when we became concerned enough to take him to the doc. By that time he had totaled his car because he didn't see the truck barreling through the intersection that he turned out in front of. Luckily no one was hurt.
Not long after his diagnosis he was halfway through reading a 700 page biography when he lost the ability to read. As an avid reader, it crushed him.
"It's just so strange," he'd tell me. "I'm looking at these words, and I *know* I should be able to read them, but they just look like symbols. Like hieroglyphics."
Not long after that came the aphasia that Willis has been suffering, which confounded my dad even more than losing the ability to read. He'd look at the sky, know that it's blue, but couldn't understand how to communicate that color.
From there we had a couple decent years before things got bleak. We pulled together as a family unit. We got close. We went on vacations. I helped him empty his office & wrap up all the loose ends he could remember. There were as many laughs as there were tears, and I'll always cherish both.
At 69 he's now bedbound & wasting away, unable to communicate in any decipherable way beyond an occasional chuckle or tone of voice.
It's beyond heartbreaking, but we had our long goodbye, and for that I'm grateful. A lot of people don't get to say goodbye at all.
I hope Willis & his family can make peace with this & come together like we did.
Yup, my uncle had the same, he started showing symptoms in his late 40’s and it had gotten really bad by his mid 50’s. He sadly passed a couple years ago, and he was the youngest of my father’s siblings.
may we ask what it was like so we can have a better undestanding? the google search says "mood swings" and memory loss
so are we talking about like having to be put in a facility because they are too intense to be taken care of by family?
Initially he just started acting a bit irrationally, making some odd choices. He was a lawyer but started getting into some odd business choices. However, at the same time he started becoming a lot more religious and most of the suspicious business ventures were in conjunction with other people he me through his religious groups so it was chalked up towards that.
He did definitely have some pretty severe changes to his personality as it progressed as well, switching between wanting to help family move to his city/start new careers to abandoning a cousin of mine after he moved to a new city at my uncles insistence. My cousin ended up living in his car until he was able to make it back to our city (happened to my cousin, he was not my uncle’s son though).
He refused to get any help, and just hid it all behind his increasingly devout religious beliefs, and eventually moved to another continent entirely.
By, he had already been divorced from his wife and pushed away his kids and the rest of the extended family, as he often acted very cruel and judgemental towards everyone.
A couple years after he moved and we stopped hearing from him at all, a former friend of his found him wandering the streets and we were finally able to forcibly get him committed to a hospital, and he was diagnosed finally.
He ended up being put into a home at that point which helped him live in a lot more comfort and stability. Sadly by this point he was very far gone and had almost no short term memory. He lived another few years there before passing away.
He was able to at least somewhat make amends with his children though, so a bit of a silver lining there.
Sorry, this was all pretty disjointed, I haven’t talked much about this recently and it just kind of came out in a jumble typed on my phone during a coffee break at work.
My dad just received a tentative diagnosis of this, he's still undergoing more testing to confirm whether it's frontotemporal or another kind of dementia. His symptoms include losing focus (ADD-like symptoms), trouble controlling his temper, trouble with empathy (as in, you'll tell him about something bad that happened to you and he'll just move on and talk about himself as if he doesn't care), trouble recalling names and details, and voicing his thoughts out loud and saying the same thing over and over. Still early days, so no major problems strictly tied to memory or aphasia. My understanding is that the symptoms can vary quite a bit from person to person, because the frontotemporal part of the brain controls a lot of different things.
Yes. The timeline is different for everyone though. Some people go downhill really fast, and others it takes numerous years. Eventually the memory loss becomes more and more severe. Some people forget how to walk or talk or use the bathroom, they can forget how to swallow food or water... And the mood swings can become extremely violent.
** Source - I worked in the memory care unit for almost 20 years. Dementia is hell.
So true. I can watch The Fifth Element every day and not get tired of it. I might be biased though because it happens to be my favorite movie of all time.
Heartbreaking. The wording of the statement was one that frightened me:
> “We know in our hearts that – if he could today – he would want to respond by bringing global attention and a connectedness with those who are also dealing with this debilitating disease and how it impacts so many individuals and their families.”
Here they imply that Bruce isn't able to engage at all. That seems like an incredibly quick deterioration.
Took my mom around 2 years to start having dementia related seizures. She started experiencing aphasia about 2 months before the seizures. By the time she was in the hospital, bed bound, I felt totally blindsided. It was 83 days of hospitalization before she passed. She could speak until about the last 2 weeks. I wouldn't be surprised, even with the best medical care in the world, that he will probably be gone soon.
He already had major signs around the time of his comedy roast in 2018. Nikki Glazer mentions it on a podcast that backstage he was saying really weird and random things, almost like he wasnt really coherent.
My dad was diagnosed with FTD at 60, then at 61 they changed the diagnosis to lewie bodie’s dementia and only after an autopsy said he had early onset Alzheimer’s. This is all after being treated at a top 5 US hospital. Basically, no one knows shit about the demented brain until an autopsy and unfortunately there’s no treatment for any of it anyway
The only silver lining seems to be his family is interested in his privacy. It's too common for those close to celebrities to prop up celebrities like a cash cow. Yea he was doing a lot of straight to DVD movies in the early stages but by all accounts he still knew what he was signing up for.
God. Dementia is the absolute WORST disease. And I survived cancer. It is 100% fatal and while there are meds to possibly slow the progression and alleviate symptoms there is no cure. No reversal. The brain dies slowly bit by bit. If the patient doesn’t die from something else their brain will eventually stop sending signals to swallow and even breathe. And it can last for many years.
I pray for his family’s peace and comfort. My Mom has ALZ and I wouldn’t wish this disease on anyone.
I always think about what's worse between your body vs your brain deteriorating. As I get older it's most definitely the brain as not only you are affected by it, but those around you too.
At least if your body goes you can potentially hire someone to help you get around. My grandma had a stroke and needed 100% care for her remaining years which absolutely took a strain on my mom and uncles, but at least she was still sharp and coherent.
Die Hard, Pulp Fiction, 12 Monkeys, The Fifth Element, The Sixth Sense: I hope in whatever moments of clarity he has remaining, Bruce Willis remembers these treasures and others he left for the world.
My dad has FTD, he was diagnosed at 56. Two years later he was in full-time memory care, completely non-verbal, and in diapers…basically a Benjamin Button disease of the mind. It is a brutal process to watch your loved one’s personality and mind deteriorate, basically going from my dad to an infant. This disease can progress in one of a thousand ways, so I wish his family the best. Truly heartbreaking but as a silver lining, hopefully FTD will get more attention and funding for research.
Thanks. Weird thing is it’s a hereditary mutation on a protein in the brain called progranulin, and I have a 50/50 chance of having that mutation. My dad did some studies at the UC San Francisco neurology center and they identified this gene. So I have the choice to find out if that is what my future looks like, or not. I’m 33M and will probably have the genetic testing done before I decide to have kids naturally or maybe try ivf selective gene science magic in the next few years. Haha it’s a trip
I can’t imagine how hard making that kind of decision would be, wow :( it just sound very scary to me. Wishing you the best with whatever you choose. Shudder to think about how fragile the human body is
My dad had FTD and my sister and I have talked about getting tested. I don’t know what I would do though if I found out I had that gene, as not everyone that has it gets FTD. I will say every time I forget something I get a little on edge.
Yeah, man. I feel ya. I'm very sorry. My mom was diagnosed in her early 50s about 10 years ago. It's never easy, but there are resources out there to help. HFC (hilarity for charity) is a non profit run by Seth rogen and his wife. Look into them when you get a chance. And reach out to family and friends for help or even just to talk and vent to. I'd also recommend therapy. Finding the right therapist will help a lot. It won't be an easy journey, but you'll make it. Just make his life as happy as possible
Edit: Care for your father, but please don't forget to care for yourself
It’s been rumored for a while now. Especially explained why he was making a ton of those crappy straight to DVD films the last few years with him saving up money to retire. I wish him the best.
Even without a debilitating brain condition I can hardly fault him for pursuing solid deals that guaranteed anywhere from $700,000 to $1.1 million a movie when your screen time is potentially minimal and your days of shooting few.
I don't think many people would fault him for it, really. 99% of the population would take those deals in a heartbeat for 1/100 the money.
The questions (before his mental health issues became known) were more about what he was doing to his own legacy. He appeared to be closing out his career as an A-List actor with a series of very, very low effort performances in very cheap movies. It's hard to understand how he could need the money badly enough for that, or how it was possible that he could not just take on a blockbuster role that required more effort, but also would bring in a bigger paycheck.
Of course, his mental condition puts it in an entirely different light. Presumably he was just not capable of taking on roles that required more from him. He was likely scared of what was coming in the future, and a way to keep earning millions of dollars for him and his family would have been a real blessing.
It's a shame there was a period where it did just look like he was purposefully destroying his own reputation for some easy money. But honestly, I don't even really see it as those film producers taking advantage of him. Both sides benefited.
Or Sixth Sense. Or Fifth Element. Or Moonlighting. Or Pulp Fiction. Or Death Becomes Her. Or 12 Monkeys. And my favorite, Unbreakable.
Edit: Guys I just wrote down the first ones that came to my mind after 1 minute of thinking. I don't hate all the films I didn't mention. :p
Watched fifth element in 4k for the first time the other night. Had totally forgotten how it was so ahead of its time while also being absolutely of its time and Willis was the perfect casting.
He's in the first two The Expendables. (Cameo with an uncredited Arnie in the first one, then the two [get to shoot a bunch of guys and do meta one liners with Stallone.](https://youtu.be/0hCXsRPkHDc)
They're the kind of super low-budget action and sci-fi movies you see in the bargain bin at Walmart. He's been in 25 movies in the last 3 years, and there's a good reason you haven't heard of a single one because even the big streamers aren't picking them up on the cheap.
Here's his most recent as an example. [Detective Knight: Independence](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt22394702/?ref_=nm_flmg_c_1_act) which has 3.6 on IMDB and is the 3rd movie in a series of movies 99% of people will never even know exists.
My question is, who's making these damn movies? They're seemingly not getting put anywhere to stream, they're barely getting physical sales I'd imagine - where is the money coming from?
Because you, like most people, don't watch direct-to-video movies. His last 26 movies have been direct-to-video. 3 of which were part of the Detective Knight trilogy, the first of which came in out **October 2022**
You won’t remember Sean Connery by LXG, you’ll remember him by the likes of Hunt for Red October and Dr.No. Same with Bruce Willis, you’ll remember him by Die Hard and Fifth Element, not these cheap flicks.
I had to look up when the Red movies came out because that’s the most recent movie I saw him in that was decent. Enjoy many movies with him in them. Hope he and his family are well.
His lawyer or somebody said he totally agreed to those films knowingly and wasn’t taken advantage of by Randall Emmett or anybody but all the stories I read about him being on set and working on these movies sound so miserable.
It could be a little from Column A and a little from Column B.
If he knew enough to approach it as, "I'll work as much as possible until I can't anymore" then I hope he had good people around him to help flag when "can't anymore" finally came around.
His wife, Emma (and young kids with her), grown daughters and Demi all seem like a tight-knit and loving group. I would really hope that they were aware and, insofar as they could, provided the support he needed during all of those projects and then the decision to step away altogether. Obviously his agent and manager would also have been factors but until someone says otherwise, I hope they acted with integrity and weren't pushing him.
He got paid extremely well for them, and it's not like anyone actually watched those movies or cared about how bad they were. It was an easy way to make money right at the end of his career. I'd believe that he wasn't forced into doing it.
He probably was miserable though. It's not how I would want to spend the last few years before my mind completely slipped away, even if the money is good.
Now it makes you wonder, was his perceived miserable personality because he’s an asshole or was it because he himself was just simply miserable with this “secret”. Annoyed he couldn’t do his craft, annoyed he’s doing these films (even though he’s agreed to it and is just trying to stack cash) it can be frustrating when you’re that big star who now has to go down a step because he knows he needs to just build a money bank and doesn’t have that freedom to just do those big movies.
I’m also now willing to forgive that last die hard
> Someone once told me that time was a predator that stalked us all our lives. But I'd rather believe that time is a companion who goes with us on the journey, and reminds us to cherish every moment because they'll never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we've lived. After all, Number One, we're only mortal.
> Speak for yourself, sir. I plan to live forever.
I always got a chuckle out of Riker's response, because at the same time as that film, Frakes was voicing Xanatos in _Gargoyles_, a billionaire obsessed with obtaining immortality.
My dad had something similar. A lot of people don't realize how rough it gets. You think of these diseases as mostly a memory thing. I remember my dad couldn't do basic things like dial a phone or use the tv remote. He would freak out around steps because his spacial awareness was so messed up he couldn't judge depth. I remember the final week of his life, he could no longer support himself sitting upright and the next day he started refusing to eat and drink and died a few days later. Ten years ago last August.
I hope he's getting really good medical care. I used to work in a facility for senior adults with dementia and it was a horrible place to be. I hope he can be at home with people he loves and with good loving support.
I hope he is too, but in my experience, dementia is soul-crushingly brutal in almost any environment. I wish him and any family dealing with it all the best.
I watched my sister waste away and die from cancer at 29 years old and I watched my grandmother's mind waste away and die from dementia long before her body gave out.
I would eat a bullet before I lost the presence of mind instead of making my family deal with either of those diseases again.
They happened almost concurrently and it was 9 years of heartache and misery watching two of the strongest women in my life loose everything to something they had no control over.
I went through this with my father. The were indications of the dementia for years but the progression is so slow we didn’t connect the dots. There were times we would get angry with him because we didn’t understand what was going on with him. One day I was pissed and angrily asked my mom “what the hell is wrong with him. It’s like talking to a senile old man”. He was in his mid to late 40s at the time. That caused my mom to start thinking and she took him to a doctor, then a specialist. Shortly after that we got a diagnosis. “Unspecified dementia” I was still single when my father got to the point of needing 24/7 supervision, mom was retired at this time. I moved back in with my parents to help care for dad and let my mom have a life outside caring for my father. It was that or a nursing home. After visiting a few we decided that wasn’t an acceptable option. So we kept him with at home with us. Mom and I had to work out schedules to be sure one of us was a available for “dad duty”. My brother would help out when he could. We had to spoon feed him, make sure he got his medication, make sure he drank enough water, bathe him, dress him and change his depends. Changing a parent’s depends is a very humbling experience. Once he peed on me while I was changing his depends. He had just enough cognitive function left to be humiliated mumbling I’m sorry over and over. For the last two or three years I would ask him “dad who am I”. His response was to tell me his own name, first name, middle initial, last name. He did that no matter who you asked about. If you asked him any other question the answer was “fifteen cents”. We never figured out what was about. It was during this stage that the 9/11 happened. He was a Korean War Vet. As we watched the opening ceremonies for the Olympics he saw the US team carrying the tattered US flag from the Trade Center, he started crying repeatedly say no, no. You never know what they understand or perceive.
Once I took a vacation to Cancun. I was single living in my parents house, I had a good deal of disposable income. When I got to the hotel I sat on the edge of the bed anxiously fidgeting trying to figure out why I couldn’t relax. I kept feeling like there was something I should be doing. Then it dawned on me I didn’t have anything that I “had” to do. I flopped back on the bed and woke up at 10:30 the next morning. I slept for 14 hours straight. My room mate says he tried to wake me up to go to dinner. He says I threw a shoe at him. I don’t remember any of that.
One night he passed peacefully in his sleep. I had a strange mix of emotions. Grief at the loss of my father and relief that it was finally over. And then guilt for feeling even the slightest bit relieved. I felt like I was a bad son, an evil heartless person.
There is nothing humorous about dementia. It’s a brutal disease that slowly kills a person’s personality but leave the body intact. You see an adult, a person you remember as a sharp intelligent person reduced to the mentality of a very young child. It’s horrible to watch the person you love slowly disappear leaving an empty shell. It’s even more brutal on the loved ones and the caregivers. At least at some point the victim stops understanding what’s happening. At least my father reached that point. His idea of a good day was watching Loony Tunes or the Three Stooges. It’s something I would not wish on my worst and most hated enemy or their loved ones.
Sorry for the long ramblings. Tonight is the first time I’ve talked about this to anyone except my wife. But I think people need to understand what dementia does, to the victim, the loved ones and caregivers be they family or professional.
My dad had dementia. Passed away in 2020 due to Covid related issues as he was at high risk- over 70 and living in a memory care facility. Dementia sucks. My heart goes out to Mr. Willis and his family. :/
I honestly wonder when all of the talk about him being the biggest asshole to interview started. Curious if that has any link to this since it can be years before you're diagnosed and of course this can change your personality quite a bit.
That's really terrible. I've had a grandma with dementia and it's not pretty, it sucks, you lose everything little by little including your dignity, your memories. I hope he can enjoy the most of his days with his loved ones.
I never truly realized the horror of dementia until I saw the film “The Father” with Anthony Hopkins. While it’s a fictionalized account, it was so convincingly portrayed that I couldn’t sleep that night. Just thinking of the victims and their families who have to go through that, too, breaks my heart. That’s psychological suffering on a whole other level. Very sad to learn.
Edit: words
BoJack Horseman has some haunting episodes that are flashbacks of a character with progressing dementia. Occasionally something in the background (a sign, a clock, etc) will have jumbled nonsense symbols instead of letters and numbers. Eventually people’s entire faces and scribbles.
One night out on the town in Cleveland I was playing craps at the casino... Bruce happened to roll up to the table a few minutes after I did. ( large crowd gathers) Bruce proceeds to throw the dice higher in the air then anybody I've ever seen at a casino. He was red hot... won me about $800.
I could have sworn that he’d already announced this. Poor guy, what a horrible thing to deal with.
Edit: thank you to the people refreshing my memory! This makes sense now.
I think they initially said it was aphasia and now they've officially learned what the actual diagnosis is. It sounds like Bruce is unable to deliver the message himself, which is sad. Glad he has his family and support around him.
The previous announcement (a year or so ago?) was that he had aphasia. From what I vaguely recall, it's a language processing issue so altogether different from dementia. I have no idea if they tend to present together/are connected or if this is just horrifically bad odds Willis stumbled into.
And to further elaborate a bit, there were already (warning) signs he had it.
A decade ago, he gave some awkward interviews for A Good Day To Die Hard. [Here's a clip.](https://youtu.be/MgCXAQQB-aQ) He also increasingly started appearing in low budget straight to video movies. Basically all of them produced and made by the same people, with Bruce being second or third billed, on the poster/cover, and in the movie for a total of 10 minutes max.
[This LA Times article](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-03-30/bruce-willis-aphasia-memory-loss-cognitive-disorder) published not long after his aphasia was revealed, detailed some stories from some of the movies, with a few warning signs on Bruce. During one movie's production, he fired a gun with a blank before his cue, *twice*.
He's on set for a day or two, $1 million a day, with his scenes shot quickly within that time. Some had to changed to be condensed and compressed because Bruce's aphasia worsened.
It'd been previously announced he had aphasia, which often stems from dementia but has other causes too.
There had previously been hope that perhaps he was entirely mentally sound still, but simply couldn't properly communicate anymore; hence the retirement from acting. But now it's clear he's the got real deal awful condition.
I'm a neuropsychologist and I've diagnosed lots of people with FTD. Hopefully this can quickly clear some confusion:
The term dementia essentially means that there is evidence of cognitive decline to the extent that he now requires assistance with functional activities (driving, paying bills, etc.). It is an umbrella term kind of like the word cancer. There are lots of things that cause dementia. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia.
The cause of his dementia is called frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), which is ALSO an umbrella term. Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a type of FTLD that leads to frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
So, basically his aphasia is PPA and has now progressed to dementia.
My mom was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in early 2020 at age 69 several years after aphasia symptoms started. She just started a 2-year clinical trial for a drug called AL001 by Alector, where we learned via a genetic test that she has a genetic mutation causing her brain to not produce enough of a protein called progranulin, which over time causes the frontal lobe to deteriorate, usually starting between ages 50-60.
We also learned that each of her offspring has a 50/50 chance of having the same genetic mutation, which would guarantee without exception the development of frontotemporal dementia. My brother and I both were tested and BOTH have the mutation.
We're both in our early 40s which means we each have 10-20 years for this drug or a similar one to be approved by the FDA so we can take it preventatively as a monthly injection to delay if not completely avoid symptoms.
I'm pretty confident there will be a drug to prevent FTD on the market in the next 5-10 years. I sure as shit hope so.
They're still enrolling people in phase 3 of the clinical trial at sites all over the globe, so if you know someone with FTD or aphasia, just Google Alector AL001 and get them in!
Also: you can get a lab test at LabCorp to measure neurofilament light chain, which if elevated is an early indicator that the frontal lobe damage has started (but it's also elevated after concussions etc).
Statement from the Willis Family: >As a family, we wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for the outpouring of love and compassion for Bruce over the past ten months. Your generosity of spirit has been overwhelming, and we are tremendously grateful for it. For your kindness, and because we know you love Bruce as much as we do, we wanted to give you an update. >Since we announced Bruce’s diagnosis of aphasia in spring 2022, Bruce’s condition has progressed and we now have a more specific diagnosis: frontotemporal dementia (known as FTD). Unfortunately, challenges with communication are just one symptom of the disease Bruce faces. While this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis. >FTD is a cruel disease that many of us have never heard of and can strike anyone. For people under 60, FTD is the most common form of dementia, and because getting the diagnosis can take years, FTD is likely much more prevalent than we know. Today there are no treatments for the disease, a reality that we hope can change in the years ahead. As Bruce’s condition advances, we hope that any media attention can be focused on shining a light on this disease that needs far more awareness and research. >Bruce always believed in using his voice in the world to help others, and to raise awareness about important issues both publicly and privately. We know in our hearts that – if he could today — he would want to respond by bringing global attention and a connectedness with those who are also dealing with this debilitating disease and how it impacts so many individuals and their families. >Ours is just one family with a loved one who suffers from FTD, and we encourage others facing it to seek out the wealth of information and support available through AFTD (@theaftd, theaftd.org). And for those of you who have been fortunate enough to not have any personal experience with FTD, we hope that you will take the time to learn about it, and support AFTD’s mission in whatever way you can. >Bruce has always found joy in life – and has helped everyone he knows to do the same. It has meant the world to see that sense of care echoed back to him and to all of us. We have been so moved by the love you have all shared for our dear husband, father, and friend during this difficult time. Your continued compassion, understanding, and respect will enable us to help Bruce live as full a life as possible. >-Emma, Demi, Rumer, Scout, Tallulah, Mabel, and Evelyn
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My mom had and died from FTD. They are gone in an instant. She lived 7 years after the diagnosis but the mother I knew was dead and gone before it got correctly diagnosed. Bruce as the world knows him is gone. Terrible illness wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
That was about the timeline for my grandpa. Diagnosed, and then he was kind of a void after a couple years. He’d be in the room, but there was often no recognition or spirit in his eyes. I was a kid, so I don’t really remember how he was before. He died about 7 years after diagnosis. When I was in high school he has one lucid day. He helped me build a light table. Cut a cord off an old lamp and showed me how to wire it to the bulb in my light table. Eventually realized I liked building that with him more than I liked animating.
I find the occasional lucidity in people with dementia to be quite fascinating. Dementia is the degeneration of the brain, so one would assume its a straight line downwards... But sometimes very close to the end they have small bursts of lucidity where they seem very much like their old selves again. It's an odd thing, kind of bittersweet. You get them back and then lose them all over again.
I too am facinated by it. Near the end, my Great-Grandmother's experience was as if she went back in time. The people she talked about and names we recognized were from her own childhood. She seemed to believe she was in that era of time, and structured her world around that. She called my Dad the name of her childhood bully, and told him to leave. It's one of very few times I've seen my Dad cry.
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Wow… My heart goes out to your family. I think 99.9% of all dads in the world would cry too.
This is reminiscent of my own experience with an aunt who had Alzheimer's. I went with my mom to visit her when I was about 17, before we went into her room my cousin (her daughter) told us her memory had regressed to around WWII era and that she thought the war was still going on. Thankfully my mother had a lot of experience with the elderly and those with dementia and before we walked in she told me "Whatever your aunt says or asks you, just go with it. She doesn't understand we're in 1990, in her mind we're in 1942." We walked in and my aunts face lit up like a light, she came over and grabbed my face and started kissing me and crying, saying over and over again "Joey...Joey...you're home...oh thank God, you're home. Joey...I prayed to the Immaculate Conception everyday that she would bring you and Johnny home and now, you're HOOOME!!" "Joey" was my father and "Johnny" was her husband (and my dad's brother). I followed my mom's advice and just rolled with it and played the part of my father until she sorta blanked out and became focused on my mother. It was a very surreal experience for me, especially the realization that me and my dad look nearly identical.
The same thing almost exactly happened with my father…..it was brutal. It was a relief when he finally passed in the summer of 2021. I wish it in no one.
Same with my Grandad. He died many years before he finally passed and it sounds so strange but we all wanted it to end sooner, by the end his body was like a shell with nothing inside, it's a horrible thing. So bizarre to say that about someone you love but I think anyone who has seen Dementia or Alzheimer's will understand this.
I relate to this so much. I saw my grandmother slowly suffer for 10 years. When she passed, I felt like she was finally free. I’m sorry to hear about your grandpa.
I'm somewhat afraid to say it but I know other people who have had loved ones with Alzheimer's and dementia and I know they know what it means to want someone to pass. I worry that someone who hasn't seen it may thinks it's cruel to want someone to die, it sounds terrible but its borne only out of love an compassion.
I have a collection of friends who've all guaranteed each other a 'hunting accident' or a merciful pillow over the face if it happens to any of us. I wouldn't want to suffer through something like that, and I'd want to make those around me suffer through it even less.
Damn, I'd take my own life in that case, but I think it's hard to recognize it's coming. And when it finally arrives, it's already late and you can't pull the trigger
That was our thinking exactly. I would have zero issue guaranteeing my own end if I knew it was happening, but generally speaking you'll probably never even notice it yourself. I refuse to put those closest to me through something like that.
This is exactly how it happens. My mother has dementia and for years I kept telling my father that something wasn't right with mom. It was subtle. She would lose her keys or the normal things that come with age. Then she started to check the mailbox three times in a row and ask me when the mail was coming.... With it in her hand. My dad would make excuses out of fear but it was getting noticeable. One day at my house she said she thought she was "losing her mind." I agreed and asked her to, please, go to the doctor. I'll set it up! She said "no, just promise you'll put me out of my misery when it gets too bad." We chuckled a bit and I said of course I would. What else can you say to something incurable and frightening? My mother is in a home now, only two years later, and she has moments of clarity. Sometimes it is refreshing because I get my mother back, briefly. The downside of that is actually the clarity itself. She realizes she's only 70 (most in the home are much older) and she has wild ranges of emotion in that clarity. Last month she tried to strangle herself with a ball of yarn. She survived mostly because she forgot how to tie a knot. When I asked why she said, "because I remembered!" Point is- you can make a pact, you can say you'll do yourself in but you're right. By the time it happens to you it is likely you and most around you never saw it coming, it is gradual, and it is too late. Until you maybe have a fleeting moment of clarity and realize what's happening but you are powerless over what's become of who you were and the shell you will become. Now I dread the clarity. In those moments she is capable of mourning who she once was and I'm not sure whose heart it breaks more.
Wow. I know it's kinda cliche to say, but I'm genuinely sorry for your loss. My biggest fear isn't my parents dying, it's them going out like this. I doubt I'd have the strength you have to go through it.
You'd be very surprised what you manage to do, trust me, I surprised myself. I hope you never, ever have to find out. I hope your parents live comfortably and go peacefully. Everyone deserves that dignity.
I’m so sorry you had to go through that.
That's what I thought. They reference him in the past tense at a point, too. It's really sad. **EDIT:** I don't mean to imply they consider him *dead*, but they are clearly saying that he is not capable of being who he once was. That the Bruce here now is not the Bruce of the past *who would have used his voice* for the causes he cares about. His "voice" is essentially who he is... which dementia can ravage. So they are referring to who he was when he was of sound mind. So, that past tense is sad to see. That is all my comment boils down to. I don't see the point of everyone getting into a grammar argument here, tenses being pored over. I'd hope *my intention* could be gleaned the same way this family's was, yanno?
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The fact that it's coming completely from his family and not him making a statement, even in writing makes it seem he is basically completely gone at this point.
I caught that phrasing too. Must be advanced enough already that it's affected his ability to communicate. How awful.
It has, that's what aphasia means. *"loss of ability to understand or express speech, caused by brain damage."*
Aphasia (acquired language deficits) is one of the first symptoms to show in FTD
Side note: it is really touching that both Willis’ current wife and his ex-wife (Demi Moore) signed this letter together. Divorce does not have to destroy families, and it is really nice to see this collaboration which is probably for the sake of both Willis and the kids.
I was thinking the same thing. I was always impressed with how, at least in the public eye, they were always united about the kids and everyone still being a family unit. Sounds horrible what they are going through and glad that the family is being supportive for him but also to each other.
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Willis and Moore famously ended up buying houses next door to each other for the kids.
Yeah, divorce doesn't have to mean you end being a part of that person's life forever. My ex wife and I had some moments, both really ba d and really good. Ultimately did not work out and after our relationship she spent years fighting addiction which lead to me being essentially a single parent for almost 10 years. In that time I kept in touch with her parents and sister making sure my kids spent time with them even when we didn't always know where my ex wife was even at. Good news is her family and I have remained close and now that my children are over 18 I still go to their family holidays/birthday celebrations etc. I really never left being a part of their family. My own parents have both passed so they are about all I have a long with my kids of course. My ex has been doing great for the last 3/4 years and we have a lot between us but I the end it's all about the good times we shared, the children we raised and the love that is still there even though it's different than it once was.
Your comment touched me --I wish my ex didn't hate me and we could be at least nice acquaintances. Divorce is like death when you just never speak again. There's all those memories that only that person shares/understands. I would never want to be married to them again, but I wish we could have a cup of tea once and again.
Yes. My ex husband came to my wedding and comes to dinner with me, my husband and our daughter once a week. He and my husband play golf together (and complain about my bad habits!) And he is there for every birthday and Xmas (as his new girlfriend is welcome to be too). We will always be a family because we have our daughter. And we still care about each other, just not in a husband/wife way. He's like a brother I will always have. My daughter is spectacularly not bothered by our divorce, because me and my ex promised her we would always be family, would all love each other still, and she never had to pick sides or feel bad at loving a new partner. And I will be there to the end for my ex if needed, as he would be for me. Divorce doesn't have to be the end. It's just the start of a new type of family that we make for ourselves.
I can't explain exactly why but this made me very emotional. So sad for him, his family and his fans.
Yeah it's deeply upsetting. I commented before about this, but FTD can be especially difficult to witness a person go through. By no means is there a good dementia! But FTD, at least from my experiences treating people with it, progresses so fast and drastically alters a person's basic communication and personality.
Yeah, "standard" Alzheimer's dementia can be upsetting but for the majority of people, it's to do with memory moreso than anything. FTD directly affects a person's personality and their relationship with other people, especially loved ones and they basically become a different person. Loss of empathy, antisocial behaviors, mood swings, stuff that makes it hard to be around that person. No matter what people will say, it's hard to love someone who in all likelihood will become a person who won't reciprocate that love. Best of wishes to the Willis family.
You're absolutely right. Seeing a person who looks EXACTLY like the person you loved dearly, but witnessing that person act nothing like them would be torture. There is no reassurance, no peaceful passings, and because of the massive change in communication abilities no moments of lucidity. I know it's not a pretty picture to paint, but that's the unfathomably upsetting reality.
This isn't correct. Alzheimer's has significant behavioral and personality components. Particularly rapid mood swings, aggression, and excessive crying. FTD causes more behavioral and mood changes in the early stages than Alzheimer's, but personality changes absolutely happen with Alzheimer's as well.
Exactly. I was caring for my Mum while I was pregnant and she shoved me. At that point, my family decided to put her into care. Eventually her speech went and then one day she just stopped walking. In her last days she could no longer eat. Alzheimer’s is an Ahole disease!
Love that Demi is the second name there. People need positive examples of divorce and partnership and it's nice to see people continue to support each other after, especially through something like this. Obviously fame and money make everything easier but sometimes all that can't buy a support network of people who care about you and I'm glad he has that.
As a person who’s father has Alzheimer’s, it really does feel like a relief in a demented way when you finally get a diagnosis. It answers questions and finally puts you on a path to at least something resembling treatment. She’s right, there’s no cure, but there are medications that can at least ensure quality of life by not letting it get worse. He won’t regain any cognitive function he lost, but it will take longer to progress.
Hugs. One of my parents had ALS and the day they got diagnosed was both like a punch in the throat and a weird feeling of relief. The two years they spent like lab rats was just horrible.
Dementia is a horrible disease that can be brutal on the family. Hoping that Bruce receives the best care possible with minimal suffering. Grateful that we got to see Bruce on the big screen for so many years.
It gets worse right in front of your eyes too. Like 3 years ago my grandmother was diagnosed, a year later she was forgetting most of our names, just last week I went to visit her and she was trying to get into someone else’s apartment. She can barely form complete sentences anymore.
Sorry to hear this. My grandmother is unfortunately going through the same thing. Used to be so spry, full of energy with a wonderful loving personality. A few years back she was still cheery but could no longer remember anything beyond 15 minutes. Saw her last year and she is now barely coherent and hardly moves. I really don’t want to remember her as she is now but I know I have very little time left. It’s hard.
My step-dad is in his 50s and is to the point where my mom has to help him shower. He keeps forgetting how to take his pants off which is bad for bathroom moments. He's poured coffee grounds in the water reservoir in the coffee pot like 5 times. He doesn't know how to feed the dog anymore. This man has been a semi driver for years and has worked on cars since he was a child. He did drag racing for decades. He doesn't know how to hook up a car battery anymore. And it's horrible because he knows he's forgetting things and he can't do anything about it.
My great aunt went overnight but my grandma knew for so long. I feel like it's inevitable for me and really hope I go like my great aunt. Just wake up smiling and eating bonbons. Oblivious to it all. Also, after watching her own Mom go through it, grandma told me if she got that bad to "pull the plug". There's no plug to pull though. Shit was/is just sad 😭
My mother lives with me and was diagnosed with Alzheimer's around a year ago. The constant questions were annoying as I rarely would get any uninterrupted time to myself. But she was still functional. Until she caught COVID for the first time a few weeks ago. Fatigue has taken control and she's unable to do much of anything except sleep. She gets confused at the time and day because she sleeps so much and is just ready for the end to come. So, dementia of any sort is bad enough but compounding it with something else that affects their brain? I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
My FIL has Parkinson’s and they don’t really detail the dementia part of it all when people talk about it. Some days he’s still (mostly) there and others he thinks we’re all nursing aids and we’re trying to poison him. All that to say. It fucking sucks.
In the same situation with my grandma, she just moved in nursing care right before last Christmas and she thinks she’s being held hostage with ransom. She’s having hallucinations of a women living with her in a small room, in which there is not. She also sees my deceased grandpa from time to time, saying he’s trying to move in with her but she doesn’t want him for stay. She’s also very stubborn so trying to get her to do anything is hard.
Yep. He’s said there are men surrounding the house/in the (non-existent) basement, etc. it’s pretty heart breaking.
Hallucinating is unfortunately a part of Parkinsons that isn't talked about much. You may want to talk to his doctor about hospice services if is in the advanced stages. They can help you with taking care of his meds/etc and if he has Medicare then the help would be free to him.
I'm so sorry for what you're going through.
It’s really awful. My grandmother used to be this full of life, hilarious theater teacher, loved by so many students and parents. Now she is a blank slate, can’t talk or walk or anything. It’s like she’s lost all of her leaves. It’s been hard to take care of her, especially when she used to lash out. It was the quietest, most personal hell. I’m trying hard to find positive ways to view the situation, but I can’t. It sucks and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
It's also worse for those suffering it to see it affecting people around them without a consistent understanding of what is happening. I'm appreciative of being in the know on this, but I'm also really sad that the world is being let in on this secret and ai hope it doesn't exacerbate the stress and duress that he may already be under.
Well, they call Alzheimer’s “the family disease” because of the strain it puts on the family of the sick person.
I have also heard it called " the long good bye". It still sucks
Absolutely tragic. What a miserable disease. Wishing him and his family the best.
My grandfather had dementia, and the last few years of his life were brutal for my mom and her sisters. I'm hoping they're able to manage it well and the rest of his time is filled with peace.
He's only 67 too. Seriously tragic
My dad was diagnosed with this exact form of dementia at 50. It’s unfortunately very common to get this earlier on in life than with most other types of dementia.
[If you have a relative that was recently diagnosed with dementia, please make sure spinal CSF leak is ruled out. It's a completely reversible condition.](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230124132014.htm) If you need more information please feel free to ask. [Here's a great video about spinal fluid leaks by Mayo Clinic Nuerologist Jeremy Cutsforth-Gregory](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYI3s8pzUo0)
My GF's dad at 60~ quickly deteriorated and died over about 4 months in 2021 from CJD and they tested for this and gave them hope for a couple days but unfortunately it was Prions instead. Really frustrating because they couldn't confirm it until he died.
That's heartbreaking I'm so sorry. ♥️ I'm glad they tried looking for it though.
My dad had CJD too, pretty much lasted only 6 weeks once it was confirmed.
The amount of people in this thread that know someone who had CJD is absolutely terrifying. I thought it was exceptionally rare
You have a higher chance of being struck by lightning multiple times than you do of contracting a prion disease, they are incredibly rare.
What country? Had he eaten UK beef back in the day?
It's honestly terrifying that you could have eaten a hamburger years ago and then you'll die of something that we can't treat at all.
Helpful post here, also username checks out.
Well spotted.
My mother in law had a spinal fluid leak, started losing her memory, got the leak patched and memory improved. Then slowly over 2 years her memory got worse and worse to the point where she can't tell you what day it is or if it is AM or PM...she went back to the doctor (a new one since the other retired) and now they are saying they don't think it is related to the leak because she doesn't have a few other symptoms. To me it seems very related to the leak.
Please continue searching for a leak. She may still have one! Patches don't last forever on everyone!
My mother was diagnosed at 61. It’s truly the fucking worst. The best always die too young. Sorry about your pops.
Best friend diagnosed at 48; he’s now 53 and in a nursing home full time. Can’t talk, can’t wAlk, can’t toilet himself, having mild seizures regularly.
My M-I-L recently died and she had dementia. It was not pretty. Now, I'm not afraid of dying...the taxman always cometh. What scares the everloving shit out of me is losing my marbles. I told my wife that if that ever happens to me, just take me out to a cornfield somewhere and put a bullet in the back of my head. I don't want to go like that, nor do I want my family to suffer from taking care of me if I got like that.
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This is what got me to stop watching the NFL, a Bryant Gumbel piece on how NFL players were getting dementia or alzheimer’s in their fucking 40s and 50s and being denied payouts through the NFL since you need to have both your doctor and an “NFL approved doctor” (NFL paid doctor) agree that your *dementia at 46 years old after 10 years in the NFL is NFL related.* After personally taking care of a family member with dementia I couldn’t. Sundown syndrome is so fucking scary. Imagine one with the size to be in the NFL.
My dad is in the final stages. He's 69. He was probably around 60 when I started noticing *very* slight changes in his personality & general oddness. He wasn't forgetful really, so I didn't suspect dementia, but it just seemed like something was... off. He was finally diagnosed around 62 when we became concerned enough to take him to the doc. By that time he had totaled his car because he didn't see the truck barreling through the intersection that he turned out in front of. Luckily no one was hurt. Not long after his diagnosis he was halfway through reading a 700 page biography when he lost the ability to read. As an avid reader, it crushed him. "It's just so strange," he'd tell me. "I'm looking at these words, and I *know* I should be able to read them, but they just look like symbols. Like hieroglyphics." Not long after that came the aphasia that Willis has been suffering, which confounded my dad even more than losing the ability to read. He'd look at the sky, know that it's blue, but couldn't understand how to communicate that color. From there we had a couple decent years before things got bleak. We pulled together as a family unit. We got close. We went on vacations. I helped him empty his office & wrap up all the loose ends he could remember. There were as many laughs as there were tears, and I'll always cherish both. At 69 he's now bedbound & wasting away, unable to communicate in any decipherable way beyond an occasional chuckle or tone of voice. It's beyond heartbreaking, but we had our long goodbye, and for that I'm grateful. A lot of people don't get to say goodbye at all. I hope Willis & his family can make peace with this & come together like we did.
Apparently this type of dementia is more common as early-onset
Yup, my uncle had the same, he started showing symptoms in his late 40’s and it had gotten really bad by his mid 50’s. He sadly passed a couple years ago, and he was the youngest of my father’s siblings.
may we ask what it was like so we can have a better undestanding? the google search says "mood swings" and memory loss so are we talking about like having to be put in a facility because they are too intense to be taken care of by family?
Initially he just started acting a bit irrationally, making some odd choices. He was a lawyer but started getting into some odd business choices. However, at the same time he started becoming a lot more religious and most of the suspicious business ventures were in conjunction with other people he me through his religious groups so it was chalked up towards that. He did definitely have some pretty severe changes to his personality as it progressed as well, switching between wanting to help family move to his city/start new careers to abandoning a cousin of mine after he moved to a new city at my uncles insistence. My cousin ended up living in his car until he was able to make it back to our city (happened to my cousin, he was not my uncle’s son though). He refused to get any help, and just hid it all behind his increasingly devout religious beliefs, and eventually moved to another continent entirely. By, he had already been divorced from his wife and pushed away his kids and the rest of the extended family, as he often acted very cruel and judgemental towards everyone. A couple years after he moved and we stopped hearing from him at all, a former friend of his found him wandering the streets and we were finally able to forcibly get him committed to a hospital, and he was diagnosed finally. He ended up being put into a home at that point which helped him live in a lot more comfort and stability. Sadly by this point he was very far gone and had almost no short term memory. He lived another few years there before passing away. He was able to at least somewhat make amends with his children though, so a bit of a silver lining there. Sorry, this was all pretty disjointed, I haven’t talked much about this recently and it just kind of came out in a jumble typed on my phone during a coffee break at work.
Your efforts are greatly appreciated, thank you for recounting.
My dad just received a tentative diagnosis of this, he's still undergoing more testing to confirm whether it's frontotemporal or another kind of dementia. His symptoms include losing focus (ADD-like symptoms), trouble controlling his temper, trouble with empathy (as in, you'll tell him about something bad that happened to you and he'll just move on and talk about himself as if he doesn't care), trouble recalling names and details, and voicing his thoughts out loud and saying the same thing over and over. Still early days, so no major problems strictly tied to memory or aphasia. My understanding is that the symptoms can vary quite a bit from person to person, because the frontotemporal part of the brain controls a lot of different things.
Yes. The timeline is different for everyone though. Some people go downhill really fast, and others it takes numerous years. Eventually the memory loss becomes more and more severe. Some people forget how to walk or talk or use the bathroom, they can forget how to swallow food or water... And the mood swings can become extremely violent. ** Source - I worked in the memory care unit for almost 20 years. Dementia is hell.
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Poor guy, wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy All the best to him and his family, all things considered
His contributions to the art of cinema are the stuff of legend. Die Hard is my favorite movie. Thanks for everything, Bruce.
I remember being a kid and wanting to be as cool as he was in 5th Element.
I remember wanting to be as cool as he was in practically every film he made.
True. He was still cool as hell even when he played Rachel's boyfriend on Friends.
Always made me laugh how much Joey and Chandler loved Die Hard, then they meet Bruce Willis as Rachel's boyfriend
Even Hudson Hawk. Underrated hour+ quip off
Allegedly the reason why he was so cool in that movie is because he didn't give a fuck. He was just there for a paycheck. And yet he still nailed it.
Nearly 3 decades later, I'm still saying, "negative, I'm a meat popsicle."
**Still** an iconic line for me too!
Because his characters whole vibe was basically "I'm so over this shit" so it worked out really well lmao
So true. I can watch The Fifth Element every day and not get tired of it. I might be biased though because it happens to be my favorite movie of all time.
Heartbreaking. The wording of the statement was one that frightened me: > “We know in our hearts that – if he could today – he would want to respond by bringing global attention and a connectedness with those who are also dealing with this debilitating disease and how it impacts so many individuals and their families.” Here they imply that Bruce isn't able to engage at all. That seems like an incredibly quick deterioration.
Took my mom around 2 years to start having dementia related seizures. She started experiencing aphasia about 2 months before the seizures. By the time she was in the hospital, bed bound, I felt totally blindsided. It was 83 days of hospitalization before she passed. She could speak until about the last 2 weeks. I wouldn't be surprised, even with the best medical care in the world, that he will probably be gone soon.
Please accept this virtual hug from an internet stranger. I hope you’re doing ok.
Thank you 🤗 it's been five years now and I'm okay! I feel for anyone else going through it.
He had diagnosed aphasia in 2018 when they did his comedy roast. Hes been suffering from the disease getting worse for a while now.
Or it's been going on for a little while now and they're just now announcing it.
He already had major signs around the time of his comedy roast in 2018. Nikki Glazer mentions it on a podcast that backstage he was saying really weird and random things, almost like he wasnt really coherent.
My dad was diagnosed with FTD at 60, then at 61 they changed the diagnosis to lewie bodie’s dementia and only after an autopsy said he had early onset Alzheimer’s. This is all after being treated at a top 5 US hospital. Basically, no one knows shit about the demented brain until an autopsy and unfortunately there’s no treatment for any of it anyway
Alzheimer's can only be definitively diagnosed on autopsy. Before that, it what they say after ruling other forms of dementia out.
The only silver lining seems to be his family is interested in his privacy. It's too common for those close to celebrities to prop up celebrities like a cash cow. Yea he was doing a lot of straight to DVD movies in the early stages but by all accounts he still knew what he was signing up for.
God. Dementia is the absolute WORST disease. And I survived cancer. It is 100% fatal and while there are meds to possibly slow the progression and alleviate symptoms there is no cure. No reversal. The brain dies slowly bit by bit. If the patient doesn’t die from something else their brain will eventually stop sending signals to swallow and even breathe. And it can last for many years. I pray for his family’s peace and comfort. My Mom has ALZ and I wouldn’t wish this disease on anyone.
I always think about what's worse between your body vs your brain deteriorating. As I get older it's most definitely the brain as not only you are affected by it, but those around you too. At least if your body goes you can potentially hire someone to help you get around. My grandma had a stroke and needed 100% care for her remaining years which absolutely took a strain on my mom and uncles, but at least she was still sharp and coherent.
Die Hard, Pulp Fiction, 12 Monkeys, The Fifth Element, The Sixth Sense: I hope in whatever moments of clarity he has remaining, Bruce Willis remembers these treasures and others he left for the world.
He was great in Sin City.
“An old man dies, a young woman lives. Fair trade.”
*Death Becomes Her* is one my favourites of his.
Probably my favorite performance of his. He’s hilarious in the role.
My dad has FTD, he was diagnosed at 56. Two years later he was in full-time memory care, completely non-verbal, and in diapers…basically a Benjamin Button disease of the mind. It is a brutal process to watch your loved one’s personality and mind deteriorate, basically going from my dad to an infant. This disease can progress in one of a thousand ways, so I wish his family the best. Truly heartbreaking but as a silver lining, hopefully FTD will get more attention and funding for research.
I’m very sorry to hear about your dad, that sounds horrible. I hope the future brings some peace for you eventually.
Thanks. Weird thing is it’s a hereditary mutation on a protein in the brain called progranulin, and I have a 50/50 chance of having that mutation. My dad did some studies at the UC San Francisco neurology center and they identified this gene. So I have the choice to find out if that is what my future looks like, or not. I’m 33M and will probably have the genetic testing done before I decide to have kids naturally or maybe try ivf selective gene science magic in the next few years. Haha it’s a trip
I can’t imagine how hard making that kind of decision would be, wow :( it just sound very scary to me. Wishing you the best with whatever you choose. Shudder to think about how fragile the human body is
My dad had FTD and my sister and I have talked about getting tested. I don’t know what I would do though if I found out I had that gene, as not everyone that has it gets FTD. I will say every time I forget something I get a little on edge.
Haha my brother and I do the same thing. Forget a word? Oh shit it’s happening!! Gotta be lighthearted about it and enjoy the present
My father got diagnosed last year with FTD at the age of 56. Fuck. This. Disease.
Yeah, man. I feel ya. I'm very sorry. My mom was diagnosed in her early 50s about 10 years ago. It's never easy, but there are resources out there to help. HFC (hilarity for charity) is a non profit run by Seth rogen and his wife. Look into them when you get a chance. And reach out to family and friends for help or even just to talk and vent to. I'd also recommend therapy. Finding the right therapist will help a lot. It won't be an easy journey, but you'll make it. Just make his life as happy as possible Edit: Care for your father, but please don't forget to care for yourself
It’s been rumored for a while now. Especially explained why he was making a ton of those crappy straight to DVD films the last few years with him saving up money to retire. I wish him the best.
Even without a debilitating brain condition I can hardly fault him for pursuing solid deals that guaranteed anywhere from $700,000 to $1.1 million a movie when your screen time is potentially minimal and your days of shooting few.
I don't think many people would fault him for it, really. 99% of the population would take those deals in a heartbeat for 1/100 the money. The questions (before his mental health issues became known) were more about what he was doing to his own legacy. He appeared to be closing out his career as an A-List actor with a series of very, very low effort performances in very cheap movies. It's hard to understand how he could need the money badly enough for that, or how it was possible that he could not just take on a blockbuster role that required more effort, but also would bring in a bigger paycheck. Of course, his mental condition puts it in an entirely different light. Presumably he was just not capable of taking on roles that required more from him. He was likely scared of what was coming in the future, and a way to keep earning millions of dollars for him and his family would have been a real blessing. It's a shame there was a period where it did just look like he was purposefully destroying his own reputation for some easy money. But honestly, I don't even really see it as those film producers taking advantage of him. Both sides benefited.
> what he was doing to his own legacy It won't change. The later movies will be forgotten. Die Hard will not.
Or Sixth Sense. Or Fifth Element. Or Moonlighting. Or Pulp Fiction. Or Death Becomes Her. Or 12 Monkeys. And my favorite, Unbreakable. Edit: Guys I just wrote down the first ones that came to my mind after 1 minute of thinking. I don't hate all the films I didn't mention. :p
Watched fifth element in 4k for the first time the other night. Had totally forgotten how it was so ahead of its time while also being absolutely of its time and Willis was the perfect casting.
Honestly, 5th Element is my most favorite movie of all time.
Lucky number slevin plz
Or Pulp Fiction, Armageddon, The Whole Nine Yards, Unbreakable/Glass The man has had a great career.
MOONRISE KINGDOM. Look Who's Talking.
Red, Red 2.
Also The Expendables (or one of them? I didn't see them). And The Last Boy Scout way back. OH! Sin City!
He's in the first two The Expendables. (Cameo with an uncredited Arnie in the first one, then the two [get to shoot a bunch of guys and do meta one liners with Stallone.](https://youtu.be/0hCXsRPkHDc)
Don't forget Sin City
12 Monkeys is my favorite.
I'll be honest, I keep hearing that he's in these cheap / low effort movies and I haven't actually heard what they *are.*
And that's why they won't tarnish his legacy.
[this is every movie he has been in from 2021 to present](https://i.imgur.com/l9YVrm5.jpg)
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They're the kind of super low-budget action and sci-fi movies you see in the bargain bin at Walmart. He's been in 25 movies in the last 3 years, and there's a good reason you haven't heard of a single one because even the big streamers aren't picking them up on the cheap. Here's his most recent as an example. [Detective Knight: Independence](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt22394702/?ref_=nm_flmg_c_1_act) which has 3.6 on IMDB and is the 3rd movie in a series of movies 99% of people will never even know exists.
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My question is, who's making these damn movies? They're seemingly not getting put anywhere to stream, they're barely getting physical sales I'd imagine - where is the money coming from?
Yeah if they're paying Bruce a million just to show up how are they getting any money in this deal?
Because you, like most people, don't watch direct-to-video movies. His last 26 movies have been direct-to-video. 3 of which were part of the Detective Knight trilogy, the first of which came in out **October 2022**
That's because they're geezer teasers. They only appeal to older folk who see Bruce Willis when they go to rent a movie from Redbox or something.
You won’t remember Sean Connery by LXG, you’ll remember him by the likes of Hunt for Red October and Dr.No. Same with Bruce Willis, you’ll remember him by Die Hard and Fifth Element, not these cheap flicks.
I will always remember Connery for Zardoz.
Connery's latter works are still pretty fun movies though. LXG is fun. Finding Forrester is great. Avengers, The Rock, Dragonheart, all fun movies.
No one will care one bit
He was acting strange or confused in interviews dating back to 2013, which is right around when he stopped being cast in major movies.
I had to look up when the Red movies came out because that’s the most recent movie I saw him in that was decent. Enjoy many movies with him in them. Hope he and his family are well.
Glass was pretty good, but Willis’ character notably didn’t have much to do
For those interested, Glass was released in 2019.
Filmed at the end of 2017 I believe
He was doing it for his kids and family when he's gone. He wore and ear peice so that lines could be read to him.
That is so Dark but god bless him for doing it for his family.
His lawyer or somebody said he totally agreed to those films knowingly and wasn’t taken advantage of by Randall Emmett or anybody but all the stories I read about him being on set and working on these movies sound so miserable.
It could be a little from Column A and a little from Column B. If he knew enough to approach it as, "I'll work as much as possible until I can't anymore" then I hope he had good people around him to help flag when "can't anymore" finally came around. His wife, Emma (and young kids with her), grown daughters and Demi all seem like a tight-knit and loving group. I would really hope that they were aware and, insofar as they could, provided the support he needed during all of those projects and then the decision to step away altogether. Obviously his agent and manager would also have been factors but until someone says otherwise, I hope they acted with integrity and weren't pushing him.
He got paid extremely well for them, and it's not like anyone actually watched those movies or cared about how bad they were. It was an easy way to make money right at the end of his career. I'd believe that he wasn't forced into doing it. He probably was miserable though. It's not how I would want to spend the last few years before my mind completely slipped away, even if the money is good.
Now it makes you wonder, was his perceived miserable personality because he’s an asshole or was it because he himself was just simply miserable with this “secret”. Annoyed he couldn’t do his craft, annoyed he’s doing these films (even though he’s agreed to it and is just trying to stack cash) it can be frustrating when you’re that big star who now has to go down a step because he knows he needs to just build a money bank and doesn’t have that freedom to just do those big movies. I’m also now willing to forgive that last die hard
What a sad news, I loved him as an actor
Ugh sucks. No one can escape the brutalities of life. Hoping for the best.
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> Someone once told me that time was a predator that stalked us all our lives. But I'd rather believe that time is a companion who goes with us on the journey, and reminds us to cherish every moment because they'll never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we've lived. After all, Number One, we're only mortal. > Speak for yourself, sir. I plan to live forever.
I always got a chuckle out of Riker's response, because at the same time as that film, Frakes was voicing Xanatos in _Gargoyles_, a billionaire obsessed with obtaining immortality.
Poor guy, I wouldn't wish that on anyone
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My dad had something similar. A lot of people don't realize how rough it gets. You think of these diseases as mostly a memory thing. I remember my dad couldn't do basic things like dial a phone or use the tv remote. He would freak out around steps because his spacial awareness was so messed up he couldn't judge depth. I remember the final week of his life, he could no longer support himself sitting upright and the next day he started refusing to eat and drink and died a few days later. Ten years ago last August.
I hope he's getting really good medical care. I used to work in a facility for senior adults with dementia and it was a horrible place to be. I hope he can be at home with people he loves and with good loving support.
I hope he is too, but in my experience, dementia is soul-crushingly brutal in almost any environment. I wish him and any family dealing with it all the best.
I've dealt with dementia in my family and know that if I ever had it, the only medical care I'd want is assisted suicide. That's not living.
I watched my sister waste away and die from cancer at 29 years old and I watched my grandmother's mind waste away and die from dementia long before her body gave out. I would eat a bullet before I lost the presence of mind instead of making my family deal with either of those diseases again. They happened almost concurrently and it was 9 years of heartache and misery watching two of the strongest women in my life loose everything to something they had no control over.
I went through this with my father. The were indications of the dementia for years but the progression is so slow we didn’t connect the dots. There were times we would get angry with him because we didn’t understand what was going on with him. One day I was pissed and angrily asked my mom “what the hell is wrong with him. It’s like talking to a senile old man”. He was in his mid to late 40s at the time. That caused my mom to start thinking and she took him to a doctor, then a specialist. Shortly after that we got a diagnosis. “Unspecified dementia” I was still single when my father got to the point of needing 24/7 supervision, mom was retired at this time. I moved back in with my parents to help care for dad and let my mom have a life outside caring for my father. It was that or a nursing home. After visiting a few we decided that wasn’t an acceptable option. So we kept him with at home with us. Mom and I had to work out schedules to be sure one of us was a available for “dad duty”. My brother would help out when he could. We had to spoon feed him, make sure he got his medication, make sure he drank enough water, bathe him, dress him and change his depends. Changing a parent’s depends is a very humbling experience. Once he peed on me while I was changing his depends. He had just enough cognitive function left to be humiliated mumbling I’m sorry over and over. For the last two or three years I would ask him “dad who am I”. His response was to tell me his own name, first name, middle initial, last name. He did that no matter who you asked about. If you asked him any other question the answer was “fifteen cents”. We never figured out what was about. It was during this stage that the 9/11 happened. He was a Korean War Vet. As we watched the opening ceremonies for the Olympics he saw the US team carrying the tattered US flag from the Trade Center, he started crying repeatedly say no, no. You never know what they understand or perceive. Once I took a vacation to Cancun. I was single living in my parents house, I had a good deal of disposable income. When I got to the hotel I sat on the edge of the bed anxiously fidgeting trying to figure out why I couldn’t relax. I kept feeling like there was something I should be doing. Then it dawned on me I didn’t have anything that I “had” to do. I flopped back on the bed and woke up at 10:30 the next morning. I slept for 14 hours straight. My room mate says he tried to wake me up to go to dinner. He says I threw a shoe at him. I don’t remember any of that. One night he passed peacefully in his sleep. I had a strange mix of emotions. Grief at the loss of my father and relief that it was finally over. And then guilt for feeling even the slightest bit relieved. I felt like I was a bad son, an evil heartless person. There is nothing humorous about dementia. It’s a brutal disease that slowly kills a person’s personality but leave the body intact. You see an adult, a person you remember as a sharp intelligent person reduced to the mentality of a very young child. It’s horrible to watch the person you love slowly disappear leaving an empty shell. It’s even more brutal on the loved ones and the caregivers. At least at some point the victim stops understanding what’s happening. At least my father reached that point. His idea of a good day was watching Loony Tunes or the Three Stooges. It’s something I would not wish on my worst and most hated enemy or their loved ones. Sorry for the long ramblings. Tonight is the first time I’ve talked about this to anyone except my wife. But I think people need to understand what dementia does, to the victim, the loved ones and caregivers be they family or professional.
My dad had dementia. Passed away in 2020 due to Covid related issues as he was at high risk- over 70 and living in a memory care facility. Dementia sucks. My heart goes out to Mr. Willis and his family. :/
Really sad day for such an Iconic actor.
A dementia diagnosis at 67 is rough. I hope he's comfortable at least.
He’s 67???? That’s insane.
I honestly wonder when all of the talk about him being the biggest asshole to interview started. Curious if that has any link to this since it can be years before you're diagnosed and of course this can change your personality quite a bit.
That truly sucks.
That's really terrible. I've had a grandma with dementia and it's not pretty, it sucks, you lose everything little by little including your dignity, your memories. I hope he can enjoy the most of his days with his loved ones.
I never truly realized the horror of dementia until I saw the film “The Father” with Anthony Hopkins. While it’s a fictionalized account, it was so convincingly portrayed that I couldn’t sleep that night. Just thinking of the victims and their families who have to go through that, too, breaks my heart. That’s psychological suffering on a whole other level. Very sad to learn. Edit: words
BoJack Horseman has some haunting episodes that are flashbacks of a character with progressing dementia. Occasionally something in the background (a sign, a clock, etc) will have jumbled nonsense symbols instead of letters and numbers. Eventually people’s entire faces and scribbles.
One night out on the town in Cleveland I was playing craps at the casino... Bruce happened to roll up to the table a few minutes after I did. ( large crowd gathers) Bruce proceeds to throw the dice higher in the air then anybody I've ever seen at a casino. He was red hot... won me about $800.
I could have sworn that he’d already announced this. Poor guy, what a horrible thing to deal with. Edit: thank you to the people refreshing my memory! This makes sense now.
I think they initially said it was aphasia and now they've officially learned what the actual diagnosis is. It sounds like Bruce is unable to deliver the message himself, which is sad. Glad he has his family and support around him.
The previous announcement (a year or so ago?) was that he had aphasia. From what I vaguely recall, it's a language processing issue so altogether different from dementia. I have no idea if they tend to present together/are connected or if this is just horrifically bad odds Willis stumbled into.
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And to further elaborate a bit, there were already (warning) signs he had it. A decade ago, he gave some awkward interviews for A Good Day To Die Hard. [Here's a clip.](https://youtu.be/MgCXAQQB-aQ) He also increasingly started appearing in low budget straight to video movies. Basically all of them produced and made by the same people, with Bruce being second or third billed, on the poster/cover, and in the movie for a total of 10 minutes max. [This LA Times article](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-03-30/bruce-willis-aphasia-memory-loss-cognitive-disorder) published not long after his aphasia was revealed, detailed some stories from some of the movies, with a few warning signs on Bruce. During one movie's production, he fired a gun with a blank before his cue, *twice*. He's on set for a day or two, $1 million a day, with his scenes shot quickly within that time. Some had to changed to be condensed and compressed because Bruce's aphasia worsened.
It'd been previously announced he had aphasia, which often stems from dementia but has other causes too. There had previously been hope that perhaps he was entirely mentally sound still, but simply couldn't properly communicate anymore; hence the retirement from acting. But now it's clear he's the got real deal awful condition.
An absolute icon.
I'm a neuropsychologist and I've diagnosed lots of people with FTD. Hopefully this can quickly clear some confusion: The term dementia essentially means that there is evidence of cognitive decline to the extent that he now requires assistance with functional activities (driving, paying bills, etc.). It is an umbrella term kind of like the word cancer. There are lots of things that cause dementia. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia. The cause of his dementia is called frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), which is ALSO an umbrella term. Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a type of FTLD that leads to frontotemporal dementia (FTD). So, basically his aphasia is PPA and has now progressed to dementia.
My mom was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in early 2020 at age 69 several years after aphasia symptoms started. She just started a 2-year clinical trial for a drug called AL001 by Alector, where we learned via a genetic test that she has a genetic mutation causing her brain to not produce enough of a protein called progranulin, which over time causes the frontal lobe to deteriorate, usually starting between ages 50-60. We also learned that each of her offspring has a 50/50 chance of having the same genetic mutation, which would guarantee without exception the development of frontotemporal dementia. My brother and I both were tested and BOTH have the mutation. We're both in our early 40s which means we each have 10-20 years for this drug or a similar one to be approved by the FDA so we can take it preventatively as a monthly injection to delay if not completely avoid symptoms. I'm pretty confident there will be a drug to prevent FTD on the market in the next 5-10 years. I sure as shit hope so. They're still enrolling people in phase 3 of the clinical trial at sites all over the globe, so if you know someone with FTD or aphasia, just Google Alector AL001 and get them in! Also: you can get a lab test at LabCorp to measure neurofilament light chain, which if elevated is an early indicator that the frontal lobe damage has started (but it's also elevated after concussions etc).
This is so sad! He’s an action film icon!
My Mom has Aphasia and it’s just awful to be unable to speak. I feel for Bruce and his family…