In the book, the spouse of Bruce Willis, who suffers from dementia, tells details about the actor’s daily life.
Bruce Willis was immortalized in fresh photos in Santa Monica on November 12. PDO
Hollywood star Bruce Willis, 70, was diagnosed with dementia a couple of years ago.
The book Willis’s wife and caregiver was published this fall by Emma Heming Willis47, perspective. In the work The Unexpected Journey Heming Willis describes everyday life with a loved one with dementia.
Willis’s more accurate diagnosis is frontotemporal dementia, which initial symptoms are among other things, personality change and language problems.
The diagnosis has especially affected the communication of the acting legend. For example, the German newspaper Bild has published excerpts from the work of Heming Willis.
– Since Bruce can no longer communicate with me, I have to decide everything for him. I can’t ask him how he is, what’s wrong or if he’s in pain.
A new kind of everyday life with memory illness also includes, among other things, that the doors must be locked and the stove must have a child lock. In addition, the refrigerator and freezer must also be lockable.
Emma Heming Willis took care of her husband at home for a long time. Photo from 2019. PDO
Nowadays, Heming Willis avoids black clothes. According to the expert’s instructions, the doormats have also been removed from the home. The expert is said to have advised that people with dementia often experience black and dark shades as if they were holes.
Thus, a person wearing a black shirt might look like their head is floating in the air. A dark doormat, on the other hand, would look like a hole in the floor.
Heming Willis took care of his spouse at home for a long time. However, everyday life got heavy and no one enjoyed themselves at home anymore. The couple has two children together, an 11-year-old and a 13-year-old.
– I believed that no one would be able to take care of him as well as I could, he reflects.
Wife tells how Bruce Willis became extremely sensitive to noise. Family members had to walk on their toes at home and loud games were out of the question.
Bruce Willis’ diagnosis was made public a few years ago. PDO
Bild tells how Willis’s spouse’s mental health began to deteriorate and he sought help for the family’s situation.
Willis was looking for his own second home close to the family home, where he would receive round-the-clock care.
– Our second home is a beautiful and safe place where I can give him the best possible care. Our old house allows me to focus on our two daughters in the way they deserve, writes Heming Willis.
Earlier, he described the decision to move as one of the most difficult so far.
Memory disease and Willis’s condition have required the spouse to make changes to the couple’s communication. Nowadays, when Heming Willis talks to his spouse, he sits next to his spouse. This way, the situation doesn’t seem as threatening or aggressive as standing opposite.
Emma Heming Willis previously reported Good Morning America – program about her husband’s current condition. He said Bruce is still able to exercise but struggles with cognitive issues.
– Bruce is overall in really good shape. Only his brain lets him down, Heming Willis said.
– The language is disappearing, and we have learned to adapt. We have our own way of communicating with him – just in a different way, he described.
In March 2022, it was reported that Willis plans to retire from acting. At the time, it was said that the cause was aphasia, which reduces the ability to produce speech.
The following year, the family published an update on the actor’s health.
– Since we know you love Bruce as much as we do, we want to give you an update. Since Bruce was diagnosed with aphasia last spring, his condition has worsened. We now have a more accurate diagnosis to report: frontotemporal dementia.