Topics: Celebrity, Health, Sex and Relationships, US News
Eric Dane's wife, Rebecca Gayheart, has provided an update about his ALS diagnosis, explaining the early symptoms she first noticed.
Dane, 53, revealed he had been diagnosed with ALS - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - back in April.
As per Mayo Clinic, the condition is a disease of the nervous system that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.
It gets worse over time and eventually impacts the muscles needed to move, speak, eat and breathe.
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In a personal essay for The Cut, Gayheart spoke about Dane's diagnosis and the challenges they have been facing.
The couple split in 2017, with Gayheart explaining that while they're no longer a couple, 'they are family'.
The pair share two daughters together, Billie, 15, and Georgia, 14, and were together for 15 years before they parted ways.
Gayheart has now opened up about caring for Dane, explaining some of the early symptoms he first noticed.
"His symptoms started maybe a year prior," she explained.
"When we would have a meal with the kids, he’d say things like, 'Something’s wrong with my hand'.
"He was struggling to use his chopsticks, dropping his food. That was when he started seeing doctors. He was initially diagnosed with a few other things, but he had this sinking feeling that it was something more serious. And I was like, 'No, it’s not. I promise you it’s not. I can feel this! It’s gonna be okay.'"
Although Dane now has 24/7 care, Gayheart has explained it's not been an easy journey and there has been shifts she has had to cover herself.
"Eric has 24/7 nurses now. Just figuring out the health-care system is its own thing — the health-insurance company will deny you what you’re asking for and you have to appeal and then you have to apply again," she said.
"... The week is divided into 21 shifts. There are times that shifts aren’t covered, so I cover them. There was a 12-hour shift recently that I could not cover. I could only do four hours because of all the stuff that the kids are doing.
"So I had to call on two of Eric’s friends, one of them who had never really taken care of him in that way. I thought, I can’t believe I had to ask someone to do this. And of course when I asked for help, they said, 'Yeah, anything, what do you need? What’s going on?' And they both showed up and did a wonderful job."
At the end of her essay, Gayheart had a sobering message for readers.
She urged others to 'live for today', writing: "I say this a lot: This is not the dress rehearsal.
"Whatever you’re doing today, that is your life. Eric getting the ALS diagnosis has brought that to the forefront of my mind. So live for today. Wear the shoes, wear the nice bag, don’t keep it in the dust bag. Put the nice sheets on your bed, like, what are we waiting for?
"Because it’s the things you take for granted that we just don’t think about. The other night, I was taking the girls to dinner and I said, 'We’re taking the stairs.' And they were like, 'Why?' I said, 'Because we can.'"
