(RepublicanDaily.org) – Since his family public announcement at the beginning of the year regarding the diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia, Bruce Willis’ family has largely lived away from the spotlight. However, the actor’s wife, Emma Heming, recently opened up about her husband’s condition and what it felt like to take care of him full time.
Willis’ form of dementia is particularly rare, and no cure exists for it.
Heming appeared on the Today show in an interview, and has also posted on social media about her and her family’s experience in caring for the veteran actor, who announced his retirement last year after being initially diagnosed with aphasia. The condition eventually worsened, resulting in the condition Willis has now.
Heming, who has been married to Willis since 2009, has two children with him, 11-year-old Mabel and 9-year-old Evelyn.
In an Instagram post, Heming, donned in an ordinary plaid shirt and hat, shared a “care partner PSA” – public service announcement – saying that caregivers need to take time to care for themselves as well, because if they don’t, “We are no good to the people we love… and take care of,” she wrote.
In her interview on the Today show, Heming said that her husband’s condition is difficult for everyone involved and that it’s “hard to know” whether he’s aware of it. “When they say that this is a ‘family disease,’ it really is,” she said. Heming also revealed that she has been very open with her two daughters about their father’s condition and has tried to explain it to them in the best way possible “from a medical standpoint… that makes sense” to her kids. That way, not only are they very aware of what their dad is going through, but they are also spared from “any stigma or shame attached to their dad’s diagnosis.”
She also shared that caring for her husband has been a “beautiful thing amongst the sadness” kind of learning experience, which is teaching her and especially her daughters “how to care and love.”
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