My wife was diagnosed with the same dementia as Bruce Willis – this is our ‘unbearable’ reality

A man whose wife is dying of early-onset dementia has revealed the ‘unbearable’ reality of the condition.

The 45-year-old said his wife began experiencing signs of dementia in 2022 at the age of 51. The couple, who remained anonymous, worked together and the man noticed she was having trouble performing her normal duties.

The man said: ‘She failed at a job she was very capable of doing. That’s what struck me.’

Eventually his wife was fired and not long afterward her personality changed and she began to “behave very erratically.”

A series of tests and MRI scans revealed she was suffering from frontotemporal dementia (FTD), the same form of dementia that Wendy Williams and Bruce Willis have.

FTD causes the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, located behind the forehead, to shrink. These areas are responsible for behavior, problem solving, planning, and recognizing familiar faces and objects.

In an Ask Me Anything (AMA) wire on Reddit, the man wrote while his wife, now 53, knows what’s happening to her, it will probably only be a year before she has to move into a nursing home.

Although the family has not been given a life expectancy, most patients live less than ten years after diagnosis, and the woman’s father died at age 58 from the same disease.

In an Ask Me Anything thread on Reddit, a man described his wife’s battle with frontotemporal dementia at just 53 years old

Wendy Williams (pictured left) and Bruce Willis (right) were both diagnosed with FTD before the age of 65

The man, who lost his first wife to cancer, said: ‘Everything is a battle. Manage home time and work. Our financial situation is terrible. The stress can be almost unbearable at times.

‘It’s tearing me apart. The future is so scary.”

While other forms of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease, mainly affect people over 65, FTD can strike between the ages of 40 and 60, with an average life expectancy of just seven years after diagnosis.

FTD is responsible for about one in 20 cases of dementia, affecting roughly 50,000 to 60,000 Americans.

The Alzheimer’s Association states that “behavioral changes are often the first noticeable symptoms” in FTD, because the disease damages the areas of the brain responsible for personality.

However, Alzheimer’s disease usually causes this after the disease progresses.

Dr. Susan Dickinson, the chief medical officer of the Association of Frontotemporal Degeneration, previously told DailyMail.com that FTD can ‘damage’ relationships due to the sufferer’s erratic moods and behaviours.

She said: ‘When it comes to family finances, for example… patients may have spent their children’s college money on a sports car or two due to errors of judgment.’

Patients may also be more apathetic, meaning they have no feelings or emotions, and may not demonstrate concern for others or motivation.

The Reddit poster said he was concerned that their 11-year-old son, who was adopted, doesn’t fully understand what’s happening to his mother.

‘He knows something is changing with her. “I don’t think he understands it at all,” he said.

He also noted that his wife becomes “very angry and bitter,” with frequent mood swings and outbursts.

Although she can provide basic care, such as dressing and showering, she “has difficulty performing simple tasks” such as laundry, and often forgets to turn off appliances. She no longer drives and “likes to redecorate the house often.”

Her husband said: ‘She was once a fantastic cook. She now even has difficulty operating the stove.’

But ‘she still recognizes us. She has days where you would think nothing is wrong.’

Over time, more and more parts of the brain deteriorate in FTD patients, causing symptoms to resemble those of late-stage Alzheimer’s disease, including difficulty eating or swallowing, difficulty walking, and vulnerability to infections as a result of the weakening of the blood-brain barrier.

Dr. Keith Vossel, a neurologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, previously told DailyMail.com that FTD patients tend to require full-time care within three to five years of diagnosis.

The disease itself is not fatal, but causes other problems that are serious or life-threatening.

These include difficulty swallowing – medically called dysphagia.

Problems with eating and drinking also increase the risk of developing pneumonia or respiratory failure.

The unnamed woman’s husband believes she can live at home for another year before having to move to a nursing home.

He said: ‘She’s terrified of what the future holds.’

For now, he says the family is focusing on staying afloat financially as his job is “barely enough to cover her needs and the needs of the household.”

She also wants to travel while she still can.

Her husband said, “She still has a lot to do. She wants me to see where she grew up. I hope to at least do that for her.”