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Bruce Willis Rendered "Incommunicative" Due to Dementia

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Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?

(KTLA) — “Moonlighting” creator Glenn Gordon Caron said Bruce Willis has been rendered “incommunicative” by the disease that ended the actor’s career last year.

Caron made the statement while discussing the popular 1980s television show, which is now streaming on Hulu.

“I know he’s really happy that the show is going to be available for people, even though he can’t tell me that,” Caron, 69, told The New York Post recently.

“The process has taken quite a while and Bruce’s disease is a progressive disease, so I was able to communicate with him before the disease rendered him as incommunicative as he is now,” Cameron told the Post.
 

Dacvak

No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
Damn, this is insanely sad. I wonder what it's like to have dementia... I hope it's not horrible.
 

killatopak

Gold Member
Damn, this is insanely sad. I wonder what it's like to have dementia... I hope it's not horrible.
Took care of my Grandma until she passed away. She already had Dementia a decade prior to passing. What happens is shortening of short term memory as time goes on. Like she wouldn't remember stuff she did recently. It came to a point where she doesn't remember the dates or remember if she had already eaten. Read the same newspaper printed a week ago, etc. Imagine that thing where you forgot why you had opened the fridge or went down the stairs for? That happened for her constantly.

She remembers most of the stuff when she still didn't have that disease though.

It was sometimes amusing to see her looking for her grandchildren and telling her that that child isn't a baby anymore. She's like 5 now. She only recognizes her grandchildren as their baby version.
 

Dacvak

No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
Took care of my Grandma until she passed away. She already had Dementia a decade prior to passing. What happens is shortening of short term memory as time goes on. Like she wouldn't remember stuff she did recently. It came to a point where she doesn't remember the dates or remember if she had already eaten. Read the same newspaper printed a week ago, etc. Imagine that thing where you forgot why you had opened the fridge or went down the stairs for? That happened for her constantly.

She remembers most of the stuff when she still didn't have that disease though.

It was sometimes amusing to see her looking for her grandchildren and telling her that that child isn't a baby anymore. She's like 5 now. She only recognizes her grandchildren as their baby version.
God damn.

I already have a fairly compromised short and long term memory due to a huge amount of chemo from when I was in my 20s. I'm almost certainly going to have some sort of degenerative memory/brain disorder when I'm older. Hopefully I get hit by a bus before then, cause I don't want to go through or put my family through that if it happens.
 

killatopak

Gold Member
God damn.

I already have a fairly compromised short and long term memory due to a huge amount of chemo from when I was in my 20s. I'm almost certainly going to have some sort of degenerative memory/brain disorder when I'm older. Hopefully I get hit by a bus before then, cause I don't want to go through or put my family through that if it happens.
Nothing is certain. Always take healthy living as a priority.

In my grandmom's case, the effect of dementia isn't as severe as what I've said when she was still healthy. Emphasis on healthy.

What happened is that covid lockdown happened. She always takes walks down our street, go in and out of the house to and fro. Buy newspaper and breadrolls for breakfast. Feed the birds, stray cats and bask out in the sun. I surmise that helped her cardio as she also had heart problems. Every bit of moving around helps as she's already turning 89 at the time. Being cooped up for a year caused her health to severely deteriorate along with her mental faculties at basically the same time. It may just be a coincedence but they basically happened at the same time.
 

LordOfChaos

Member
There's a lot of bad ways to go, but I feel like brain stuff is particularly sad on the family. I went through this myself with my mother recently passing too early of brain cancer. You can to lose your memory, movement and autonomy, even your personality depending on where it goes. Sad for him and his family.
 

mitch1971

Member
Damn, this is insanely sad. I wonder what it's like to have dementia... I hope it's not horrible.
My mother has it. Looked after her for about 8 years until it got to the point where I had to give in and leave it to the experts. She's in a home now, but the home is fantastic and she is doing really well. MY sister and I visit every week. Thankfully she still remembers us. But, you'll be suprised how she forgets stuff that has happened days or even hours before. She'll bring up a distant memory on occasion and surprise us. Yet, those moments are few and far between these days. She's still the mother I remember, but eventually it will get to the point where she won't know us which will be heartbreaking I suspect.
 
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Sonik

Member
The moment I am diagnosed with something like this is the moment I start planning my suicide, I won't even hesitate. I get fighting cancer or some other horrible disease but not this, I refuse to slowly lose myself and eventually become like a scared animal that has no idea what's happening to it, fuck that shit
 

Sgt.Asher

Member
Damn, this is insanely sad. I wonder what it's like to have dementia... I hope it's not horrible.
I was a CNA for a couple years in a memory care ward. For some dementia brings blissful ignorance, others are in a constant nightmare scape. Eventually it gets beyond just simple memory loss, and delusions can form. i.e they would eat half of dinner then blame someone else for eating their dinner.

It is my single greatest fear, to lose my sense of self.
 

wondermega

Member
The moment I am diagnosed with something like this is the moment I start planning my suicide, I won't even hesitate. I get fighting cancer or some other horrible disease but not this, I refuse to slowly lose myself and eventually become like a scared animal that has no idea what's happening to it, fuck that shit
I am with you, losing my mind in such a fashion is just about the most terrifying thing I can imagine. Although to be honest, the worst part to consider is having my loved ones have to see and deal with me in such a state. I'd prefer to peace out onto the open road and let nature run it's course, rather than very slowwwwwllllly deteriorate strapped down in a hospital bed somewhere like my grandma. No thank you.

Anyway take care of your brain everybody. I am not totally sure what that means (Don't drink and drug too much? Get sufficient sleep? Stay healthy?) Probably a lot of common sense things, although it can be difficult in the modern world where everyone is constantly uber-stressed and there are "fixes" at an arm's length away at any given time.
 
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Billbofet

Member
My dad went through something similar and it was a rough 7 years. I hope Bruce has a peaceful journey - it seems he has several loved ones around.
Absolute legend to me growing up!
 

AmuroChan

Member
Dementia is one of the saddest conditions in the world. My grandmother had it and for the final 7 years of her life she couldn't recognize or remember anyone. It was heartbreaking to witness.
 

Power Pro

Member
My dad was diagnosed with vascular dementia this year, although he was probably dealing with it longer. He sometimes is completely normal, but just becomes so out of it that it's hard to get him to do anything like walk, or get up to use the bathroom on his own. Fuck these types of diseases :( Being a caregiver is really rough when it's someone you love, because it's not only hard taking care of them, but you have to watch them deteriorate.
 
God damn.

I already have a fairly compromised short and long term memory due to a huge amount of chemo from when I was in my 20s. I'm almost certainly going to have some sort of degenerative memory/brain disorder when I'm older. Hopefully I get hit by a bus before then, cause I don't want to go through or put my family through that if it happens.

As much controversy this may bring up again...Robin Williams hung himself so his family didn't have to go through the years of degradation. I believe it was found to be body dementia in his autopsy but he was, at times, very aware of going downhill.
 

Kenpachii

Member
My dad was diagnosed with vascular dementia this year, although he was probably dealing with it longer. He sometimes is completely normal, but just becomes so out of it that it's hard to get him to do anything like walk, or get up to use the bathroom on his own. Fuck these types of diseases :( Being a caregiver is really rough when it's someone you love, because it's not only hard taking care of them, but you have to watch them deteriorate.

Did this with my mom that had braincancer, took her 2 years before she died from it, but the way towards the end it was horrid. Really fucks you up for a good while.
 

FunkMiller

Gold Member
Sadly this sounds incredibly aggressive, and may take his life far earlier than anyone expects. I’m reminded of what happened with Terry Pratchett. Horrible disease. I hope what time he has is comfortable and as happy as possible.
 
I can't imagine how terrible dementia is. One day I woke up early because I had to do something on my PC... except I forgot what it was when I woke up. What followed was a painful 2 hours trying to figure out what it was, because I had a feeling it was very important. That was 2 years ago, I still think about it
 
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diffusionx

Gold Member
I knew a lady who, I think, had something similar. By the end she didn't even recognize me and just looked lost and confused at all times. Very sad and the progression was relatively quick.

After all the posts here - that is why it is important to take care of yourself. Eat well, exercise, push your brain constantly. An unused muscle goes away.
Sadly a lot of this is genetic, the best you can do is try to maximize the time you have.
 
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poodaddy

Member
I wonder what causes this to get so bad. Bruce Willis seems like he worked out, and I'm willing to bet being in Hollywood that he ate the finest of foods. It's scary man, it almost makes it seem inevitable for some people. My father's in his mid 70's and is still smart as a whip and fit too, but my mom is.....kind of on the other end of that spectrum, so it scares me to think of this shit as a possibility. I work out, eat right, which my mother didn't, so I'm doing what I can, but damn it's so scary.
 
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dem

Member
Seeing the king dickslinger reduced to this is really sad.


After all the posts here - that is why it is important to take care of yourself. Eat well, exercise, push your brain constantly. An unused muscle goes away.

Good for you if you stay healthy, and it definitely helps..... but when it comes it comes. Whether you eat healthy or not.
My parents long time neighbor just died. Healthiest guy around.. ran marathons.. kept very active in the community. Always had new projects on the go. Didn't make 70.


Honestly.. I would think of the healthy lifestyle as helping you enjoy the time you have... not extending it.
 
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Jsisto

Member
This is immensely tragic. If it were me, I’d really just want to have an assisted death type of situation for extreme dementia. If it got to the point where I’m “incommunicative”, that’s not a life and it’s not how I’d want my family to remember me.
 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
After all the posts here - that is why it is important to take care of yourself. Eat well, exercise, push your brain constantly. An unused muscle goes away.
If only it worked like this.

Plenty of examples of people being hit by supposedly preventable diseases while following a supposedly very healthy lifestyle.

Not saying that taking care of yourself isn’t important. But we have less control on the outcomes than we like to think.
 
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diffusionx

Gold Member
I wonder what causes this to get so bad. Bruce Willis seems like he worked out, and I'm willing to bet being in Hollywood that he ate the finest of foods. It's scary man, it almost makes it seem inevitable for some people. My father's in his mid 70's and is still smart as a whip and fit too, but my mom is.....kind of on the other end of that spectrum, so it scares me to think of this shit as a possibility. I work out, eat right, which my mother didn't, so I'm doing what I can, but damn it's so scary.
We like to think we are in total control of our lives, but in many ways, we are not.
 
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I’m a therapist currently working in an assisted living facility with a dementia unit. One of our residents sons came to visit his dad today, and I was sitting with another resident helping with her meal and happened to overhear their conversation. The dad didn’t remember his son at all. The son was showing old pictures and telling stories but his dad just kept getting more agitated and suspicious as the conversation went on. The son ended up staying for the entirety of lunch and was so kind and compassionate to his dad. It was really heartbreaking. I’ve been doing this work for over 15 years and it still fucks me up from time to time when you see people with dementia forget their lives, accomplishments, and their families. Dementia is the slow death of the human spirit.
 

Liljagare

Member
I’m a therapist currently working in an assisted living facility with a dementia unit. One of our residents sons came to visit his dad today, and I was sitting with another resident helping with her meal and happened to overhear their conversation. The dad didn’t remember his son at all. The son was showing old pictures and telling stories but his dad just kept getting more agitated and suspicious as the conversation went on. The son ended up staying for the entirety of lunch and was so kind and compassionate to his dad. It was really heartbreaking. I’ve been doing this work for over 15 years and it still fucks me up from time to time when you see people with dementia forget their lives, accomplishments, and their families. Dementia is the slow death of the human spirit.

It's really hard with the ones that turn into pretty much just evil demonic versions of their older selves. I can handle the relatives that turn into basically adult babies, but every now and then, you get the bad version where they are just angry and totally plain toxic, and just totally angry at the wierdest stuff, those are hard to handle.. :( Really sad to handle, it feels like their old self is allready dead, and you are dealing with a shadow of them that is just angry/sad/upset at the same time, but sometimes they still remember things from 50 years ago. Scary and sad to deal with.
 
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isual

Member
Without looking online, what are the practical ways to mitigate getting dementia as a person gets old?

Genetics probably plays a part.
 

Mr Reasonable

Completely Unreasonable
The moment I am diagnosed with something like this is the moment I start planning my suicide, I won't even hesitate. I get fighting cancer or some other horrible disease but not this, I refuse to slowly lose myself and eventually become like a scared animal that has no idea what's happening to it, fuck that shit
There's a character played by Alan Alda in (90s hospital drama) ER who gets Alzheimer's. I don't know how it stacks up now, but there's a scene where it's found that he plans to kill himself and he says "I don't want to do it too soon, because then I'll miss out, but I don't want to leave it until it's too late because I'll forget to do it."

Sad stuff.
 

poodaddy

Member
You know what's awful about this, his mother is still alive and active & seeing her son going through all this.
Jesus man, I didn't realize his mom was still around. That makes it all the more weird that he's got it this bad. Do men typically get dementia more than women? It kind of seems that way.
 

Sybrix

Member
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