Bruce Willis retires from acting after aphasia diagnosis

[cytg111]

I've been reading this site since Anand was still here. Didn't post until recently when I took some time off work to be at home with my wife who has been declining the last few years. Her decline is caused by head injuries from her first husband who used to beat her. Almost killed her but she finally got away to town {they lived in the woods on a nearby island}. Took years to deal with her PTSD. Finally had a few good years when she could sleep soundly but now the damage he did is taking her away. I read and post here when I have to take a break from it. I should have done this a few years ago as now it's too late to really enjoy time together though she does have some short stretches of time when she is better than others. Alot of what I do is keep things calm as she gets much worse when she stresses over what is happening to her. She knows she is losing control and it scares her. Not the retirement plan I'd hoped for. I figure if I start going the same way I'll just OD in the woods and float away on a cloud of titties as they say. Last time I mention this but thanks for bringing this to light. Apologies for the downer post.
I hope everyone affected by Alzheimers. Aphasia or any debilitating brain disease gets the care they deserve. I hope her ex-husband and all others like him DIAFF.

Dude wtf. Fuck that dude. With a hammer.
Anyway, I dont know your current circumstances but cutting edge on Alzheimer's is that it's in principle reversible, the synapses is still there they're just being blocked. There is methods of breaking down the plaque structures from sonic to .. again, David Sinclair, read up on sirtuins mtor and AMPK activation.
If its at the end of the rope I'd pour growth hormone on it as well.

 

[Gardener]

Bruce Willis to retire from acting following Aphasia diagnosis | The Star

Nothing in OT or P&N on this. Never a real big fan. I don't think I saw a single episode of Moonlighting. I know personally how devastating this is. My father was doing his best to keep my mother who had Alzheimer's out of the nursing home, had a heart attack. My mom, out of it, did nothing. Fortunately, I guess, a neighbor stopped by about 2 hours after the attack. My father ended up with brain damage due to lack of oxygen with the result being the worst form, global aphasia. This of course resulted in both of my parents spending the last of their days in nursing homes.

What is aphasia and who gets it? Inside the condition that led Bruce Willis to retire from acting | Salon.com

My sympathies Hal.

My dad managed to keep mom out of the "garden" aka dementia ward for two years. A few months after she died, he had a debilitating stroke and spent his final 3.5 years in a nursing home, in a wheel chair, wearing a diaper. The last six months he refused visitors so we wouldn't remember him "that way". We buried him in November.

Too bad about Bruce. He did get to plow a young Demi, and Die Hard is one of the greatest christmas movies ever. "When the world is running down, you make the best of what is still around."

 

[Tsinni Dave]

Dude wtf. Fuck that dude. With a hammer.
Anyway, I dont know your current circumstances but cutting edge on Alzheimer's is that it's in principle reversible, the synapses is still there they're just being blocked. There is methods of breaking down the plaque structures from sonic to .. again, David Sinclair, read up on sirtuins mtor and AMPK activation.
If its at the end of the rope I'd pour growth hormone on it as well.

Thank you for that. I'll read up on it. We live on Haida Gwaii so cutting edge isn't happening. The best way to get in touch here outside of the villages is VHF radio. Getting her to even see a doctor is nigh on impossible. There is still lingering distrust of authority here due to residential schools and the ban on Haida culture well into the 1960's really. She grew up wild and she has chosen to stay that way and I have to respect that. We do however live among some of the most prolific psychedelic mushrooms and plants. I pick a shoebox of shrooms every year but haven't done any for a few years. I chew some of my favourite plant when I come across them, but they are too intense for her. She's stayed with me these years because I respect her choices. She's been a tree faller in the bush logging, a deckhand on fishing boats, she's an accomplished mountain climber and a great river fishing guide. She has lived more than many of us ever will really.
My condolences to everyone here who has shared their stories and those who haven't. Thanks Bruce for giving us this thread.
I'll follow any good links but frankly much of what you take for granted isn't really available here and much that is available here is inconceivable to anyone who doesn't live here.

 

[Perknose]

She has lived more than many of us ever will really.

Indeed she has, my friend. Here's to a life well lived!

 

[hal2kilo]

1. Psychedelic's. in terms of neuroplasticity and rewiring that old processing unit. I read good things about toad.
2. Hit up Dr David Sinclairs podcast(one season, 8 pods), there is several things you can be doing to optimize your ability to recuperate.

Its not over till its over, go out screaming and all that.

Funny I just got my "There's Mushroom For Improvement" 2 XL tee from an outfit in Arizona called the Cream Shop in the mail yesterday.

 

[hal2kilo]

My sympathies Hal.

My dad managed to keep mom out of the "garden" aka dementia ward for two years. A few months after she died, he had a debilitating stroke and spent his final 3.5 years in a nursing home, in a wheel chair, wearing a diaper. The last six months he refused visitors so we wouldn't remember him "that way". We buried him in November.

Too bad about Bruce. He did get to plow a young Demi, and Die Hard is one of the greatest christmas movies ever. "When the world is running down, you make the best of what is still around."

Well, I guess I will tell the rest of the story. In Sept of 2010 my mother passed and I stayed with my brother in Ashburn, VA. He had my dad overnight from the home so we could get him ready for the funeral. The home had a packet of meds for him to take almost all related to pain, methadone, gabapentin, naproxen, and something else I don't remember. These were for his phantom pain also due to the brain damage he suffered. Anyway, you come full circle and things get real when you are putting a diaper on your dad, and helping him get his suit on. Less than 3 month later, my dad ended up with septicemia, rallied a couple times, but finally passed. He stayed around still to look after my mom, and he was done.

 

[Perknose]

Well, I guess I will tell the rest of the story. In Sept of 2010 my mother passed and I stayed with my brother in Ashburn, VA. He had my dad overnight from the home so we could get him ready for the funeral. The home had a packet of meds for him to take almost all related to pain, methadone, gabapentin, naproxen, and something else I don't remember. These were for his phantom pain also due to the brain damage he suffered. Anyway, you come full circle and things get real when you are putting a diaper on your dad, and helping him get his suit on. Less than 3 month later, my dad ended up with septicemia, rallied a couple times, but finally passed. He stayed around still to look after my mom, and he was done.

Thank you for this thread, mang. Human and real!

 

[woolfe9998]

Hey Hal, I greatly sympathize. My father had been very healthy until his early 70's. Then the bypass surgery. Then he's diagnosed with Parkinsons, and oh by the way, "you also have lewey body dementia", similar to Alzheimers, which often goes with Parkinson's. Then cancer of the esophagus. Which they cured by removing his esophagus and attaching his stomach to his throat, leaving him with no stomach, causing him to ultimately waste away to 90 pounds. And the surgery with taking the opioids greatly accelerated the dementia.

The worst part was the Parkinson's meds allowed him to walk, but he still had horrible balance, so he fell nearly every time he walked. And because of the dementia, he couldn't remember to not walk unassisted. He would even get up in the middle of the night to go the bathroom, then fall in the bathroom. He had to have eyes on him 24/7, which was very tough on my mom.

By contrast, my mother's health is uncanny. She's 85, refuses to exercise, eats a huge amount of cookies every day, and she just keeps getting one clean bill of health after another. While lifestyle choices obviously play a role, it's also incredibly luck dependent.

Anyway, I do sympathize as it's hard to see your parents that way, remembering who they were before.

 

[Perknose]

Anyway, I do sympathize as it's hard to see your parents that way, remembering who they were before.

Understatement of the thread so far. Life will punch you in the face. Repeatedly. No matter what, though, there is still beauty to be found in life.

For this thread, I offer Mary Oliver's "Wild Geese."

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.

As a side note, we remain a rich country that still doesn't prioritize the health and care of its citizens.

 

[woolfe9998]

Understatement of the thread so far.

We remain a rich country that still doesn't prioritize the health and care of its citizens.

Tell me about it. To illustrate the point, I go to the pharmacy once per month to fill this prescription for my wife, but every time I go, I'm told it shows up as "not covered" on the pharmacy computer. Which is a non-starter as the drug costs $1500 per month! Then she has to call Blue Cross and argue with them over it, after which they say it's covered and we get the prescription. Then it happens again a month later. And again. I'm so tired of private health insurance. They charge a crapton in premiums, which we couldn't afford without our high income, and it's dogshit insurance.

At a minimum the federal government needs to start selling Medicare to non-retirees pronto. It's way better than private insurance and substantially cheaper. Long term, health insurance cannot be a profit driven commodity. We can't continue to prioritize the profits of a few over the health of the many.

 

[cytg111]

Understatement of the thread so far. Life will punch you in the face. Repeatedly. No matter what, though, there is still beauty to be found in life.

For this thread, I offer Mary Oliver's "Wild Geese."

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.

As a side note, we remain a rich country that still doesn't prioritize the health and care of its citizens.

This is true. A lot of shit happens at the end of the slope and its easy to get caught up in that.. The real point to take home is like holy crap, I cant believe we made it to 80, its a miracle. It means a whole life not getting killed by plaque or Russian shellings or random drug crime or or or or...
A miracle. Celebrate that.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

That's a real shame about Willis. The last good movie he was involved with was Looper. His career before that has a bunch of good movies too.

At least he's retiring with a bang. His IMDB page lists almost 20 movies out or in post production in the last couple years. You could spend a lifetime just watching all the stuff he's put out.

 

[woolfe9998]

I've gotta rant more to get this off my chest. I honestly don't get these conservatives who oppose universal healthcare. I want to say, on the one hand, you have all of Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the entire US left and most of the US center, and on the other, is the American right. I guess they think everyone else on the planet is stupid and they're the smart ones.

And this isn't an argumentum ad populum fallacy. It isn't just what the majority of people think. Those governments had a ton of expert input. And then we have the experience of those systems operating, most since the 1950's.

One more anecdote to illustrate how ridiculous it is that our system persists this way. My brother-in-law's parents went on a trip to Portugal some years back. They were in a rental car, driven by the husband of another elderly couple they were travelling with. He rear-ends a Portugese driver on the freeway. While the other three people had minor injuries, my brother-in-law's father had a broken vertebrate in his neck.

He's rushed to the hospital with a very efficient rapid response system. They say he can't safely be moved and so they must operate in Portugal. They give him spinal fusion surgery. They let him return after two weeks in the hospital in Lisbon. They ask how much they owe, and they say they'll send a bill later on. Upon return, his American doctor says they used a different surgical technique than what is generally used here, but the work they did was perfect.

Then they get a bill from the Portugese a month later. LOL, for 50 Euros. For a complicated spinal surgery and 2 weeks in the hospital!

They wouldn't have paid much here either, but only because they had Medicare. Had they not been old enough for Medicare, they would have paid a bunch of money for deductibles and copays.

Basically if you're going to have a serious injury, you don't want to get it here. Pretty much any other industrialized country is a better place to get it.

 

[hal2kilo]

This is true. A lot of shit happens at the end of the slope and its easy to get caught up in that.. The real point to take home is like holy crap, I cant believe we made it to 80, its a miracle. It means a whole life not getting killed by plaque or Russian shellings or random drug crime or or or or...
A miracle. Celebrate that.

It seems to me, the above strategy is the only way to get through this passion play of life. And realize you just never know how much time you have left.

 

[MtnMan]

I watched a recent Bruce Willis movie on Netflix or maybe Amazon a couple of months ago, and I though how could he even consider being is such a crappy movie. Acting was terrible, and I was blaming it on bad script/director/editing.

 

[Meghan54]

Its not over till its over, go out screaming and all that.

Except it rarely happens like that....fighting till the end and all that. Usually with a whimper...quietly, typically. Unfortunately, have seen this waaaay too many times now. Really have never seen one being a screamer at the end.

 

[Lezunto]

Hal2kilo,

I am so sorry.

 

[JEDI]

Bruce Willis to retire from acting following Aphasia diagnosis | The Star

Nothing in OT or P&N on this. Never a real big fan. I don't think I saw a single episode of Moonlighting. I know personally how devastating this is. My father was doing his best to keep my mother who had Alzheimer's out of the nursing home, had a heart attack. My mom, out of it, did nothing. Fortunately, I guess, a neighbor stopped by about 2 hours after the attack. My father ended up with brain damage due to lack of oxygen with the result being the worst form, global aphasia. This of course resulted in both of my parents spending the last of their days in nursing homes.

What is aphasia and who gets it? Inside the condition that led Bruce Willis to retire from acting | Salon.com

how did bruce get aphasia?

 

[Perknose]

how did bruce get aphasia?

He can't say. He's at a loss for words.

 

[Tsinni Dave]

He can't say. He's at a loss for words.

Damn that's dark. Brilliant, but dark.

 

[IronWing]

I view Bruce's latest movies the same way I look at Johnny Cash's last album: why the heck not? Bruce likes being in movies and he ain't aiming for an Oscar so he can do any movie he feels like doing.

 

[fskimospy]

I view Bruce's latest movies the same way I look at Johnny Cash's last album: why the heck not? Bruce likes being in movies and he ain't aiming for an Oscar so he can do any movie he feels like doing.

From what I've read he was being pushed to do those movies by those around him - I get the distinct impression he was not enjoying himself.

 

[hal2kilo]

how did bruce get aphasia?

That's what sort of mysterious. I think he had to have had some kind of stroke, but I'm not a doctor.

 

[Aikouka]

I've gotta rant more to get this off my chest. I honestly don't get these conservatives who oppose universal healthcare. I want to say, on the one hand, you have all of Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the entire US left and most of the US center, and on the other, is the American right. I guess they think everyone else on the planet is stupid and they're the smart ones.

I can't truly speak for those folks, but I've always taken the hesitancy for social assistance to be related to the concept of the American Dream. That sounds like a weird correlation, but the idea of the American Dream is that you could immigrate to the United States with nothing, work hard, get a piece of land, a nice house, a white picket fence, and have the life you deserve. Distilling this ideal down, you get a very simple concept, "you get out what you put in". Essentially, my thought is that these folks believe that getting something for nothing is against the very core of how the country was framed for them.

What's a bit awkward about this whole thing is that it seems to run contra to simple humanitarianism. It's more imperative to tell your fellow man to pull up their bootstraps than be willing to actually help.

 

[hal2kilo]

That's what sort of mysterious. I think he had to have had some kind of stroke, but I'm not a doctor.

So I did a little research. There is a progressive type of aphasia.

Primary progressive aphasia | Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center (GARD) – an NCATS Program (nih.gov)

With little info coming out from the family, I can only assume this is more like Bruce's disease.