The actor was recently diagnosed with FTD.
Emma Heming is getting help amid her husband's health battle. Bruce Willis' wife took to Instagram on Monday to share that she's working with a dementia specialist, the same month that Willis' frontotemporal dementia diagnosis came to light.
"I'm grateful I had the opportunity to work with @teepasnows_pac who has helped me add to my dementia care toolbox," Heming wrote of Teepa Snow, who provides awareness, knowledge and hands-on skills for dementia care.
"She's a loving, compassionate and skilled leader in this space who navigates herself with pure empathy," Heming continued. "She's a gift."
In the comments section, Snow praised Heming for how she's been caring for her husband following his diagnosis.
"@emmahemingwillis has done an absolutely remarkable job of providing the right support for Bruce as his abilities have changed and created a place space and life that continues to provide him with what he needs to live well," Snow wrote. "Frontal temporal dementia is never easy but with the right programming and support, it truly is possible to continue living life. Congrats to Emma and their entire family for their very very hard work and dedication. It is truly remarkable!"
Willis' family announced his FTD diagnosis earlier this month, nearly a year after revealing that the actor was struggling with aphasia, a condition that affects communication.
After Willis' latest diagnosis, ET spoke to Dr. Allison Reiss, an Alzheimer's Foundation of America's Medical, Scientific and Memory Screening Advisory Board Member, who explained more about the condition.
"It's a group of diseases that have the common factor that the brain loses brain cells, brain cells die [and there is] neuro degeneration," Reiss explained. "We don't understand why, but they die in specific areas."
According to Reiss, the "hodgepodge of different things that have been put together" leads to "a lot of devastating consequences," such as "difficulty saying words, understanding the meaning of words, and remembering and naming familiar objects."
Ultimately, she said, everything "just gets more difficult" as "the problem spreads and gets worse" until "you pretty much lose everything."
Even so, Reiss encouraged families to maintain hope through the challenging times.
"To all the families, there really is hope that we can do something about this to disease," she said. "... I have so much belief in the research community and the new technologies that, if we put our minds to it and if we put our energies and efforts to it, we can find things. It's not impossible and I just want it to get done."
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