“He’s stable which, in this situation, is good,” the 30-year-old said
Tallulah Willis admits that some days can be “painful” as her father Bruce Willis continues to deal with frontotemporal dementia.
During a Sept. 18 appearance on the Today show, the 30-year-old gave an update on her father’s condition after Hoda Kotb mentioned how moved she was from a line in her first-person piece for Vogue in May 2023.
“I have hopes for my father that I’m so reluctant to let go of,” Tallulah wrote in the personal essay. “I’ve always recognized elements of his personality in me, and I just know that we’d be such good friends if only there were more time.”
Kotb said she was touched by the sentiment before asking how Bruce, 69, was doing.
“He’s stable which, in this situation, is good,” Tallulah explained. “It’s hard. There’s painful days but there’s so much love. And it’s really shown me to not take any moment for granted and I really do think that we’d be best friends. I think he’s very proud of me.”
The actress added that her mother, Demi Moore, gave her good advice for navigating her dad’s health battle. “You have to be in the moment, you have to be present,” she said.
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In March 2022, Bruce’s family first publicly revealed that he was stepping away from acting after being diagnosed with aphasia, a language disorder that affects a person’s ability to communicate. But in February, his wife Emma Heming Willis shared that his condition had worsened, and that he had frontotemporal dementia.
Frontotemporal dementia is an all-encompassing term for a group of brain disorders that threatens the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. This means that parts of these lobes atrophy, and the shrinking of these areas can cause speech issues, emotional problems and changes in personality.
Other symptoms can include loss of motor skills — problems walking, swallowing or muscle spasms. Symptoms tend to get worse over time. Patients typically begin to notice symptoms between 40 – 65 years of age, but it can affect people who are younger. It is the most common form of dementia for people under 60.
Tallulah told PEOPLE in August that Bruce was “doing the same in terms of the last we kind of updated, which I’m told is good. But whatever kind of day it is, my family and I meet him where he’s at.”
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Additionally on the Today show, Tallulah opened up about being diagnosed with autism last year and how she’s learned to navigate the disorder later in life.
“I was misdiagnosed for many years — I was diagnosed at 29 — which is very common for adult women. It felt very new for me so it’s only been in the last year that I’m learning what all the terms are and regulating,” she explained.
“It was very emotional. It was [a] relief. If I’m being honest, I really hated myself and I thought I was very broken,” she admitted. “So, to learn that the elements of myself that I felt were maladies or wrong or just too much for this world are actually okay and they just require maybe a little bit more tools. It gave me more grace for myself.”
Tallulah said autism “quickly became part of my mosaic of self” and she’s embraced her diagnosis, which is why she’s spent the past year raising awareness and becoming a voice for the community.
“I’ve had eyes on me since I was a baby. So it was very important for me to utilize that platform to talk about it,” she said. “I wasn’t sure how I was going to talk about it…but I always knew I felt a responsibility to really make that mean something because there are so many people similar to me who are struggling.
Source people.com
