In 2023, Bruce Willis’ family revealed that the iconic movie star had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia — or FTD. Since then, Willis’ wife Emma Heming Willis has been open about how the progression of FTD has affected Willis and his family. She’s delved into the hardships of being a caregiver to a loved one suffering from the disease and has given insight into how the experience has affected their children (the pair have two young daughters).

Now, in this emotional episode of Next Question, Heming Willis opens up to Katie about the latest in her family’s journey, including some crucial details about the differences between FTD and other forms of dementia: “People always ask me, ‘Does Bruce know who you are? Does he remember you?’ And I say, ‘Yeah, he does because he has FTD, he doesn’t have Alzheimer’s.’ I think [it’s] really important for people to understand that this is affecting a different part of the brain.”

Heming Willis also lays out to Katie that even though she and her family have reached a rhythm to their new version of daily life, progression of FTD is guaranteed: “But with this disease…it is a progressive disease. There are peaks and plateaus, and right now we’re in a really good position. But I know that the next shoe will drop because it’s inevitable. Because this is a progressive disease.”

Heming Willis reiterates to Katie that an integral part of her heart-wrenching experience was confronting the fact that Willis wouldn’t make a miraculous recovery: “What was important for me was getting to that diagnosis and understanding what it was that we were dealing with. And understanding that there is no treatment and there is no cure.”

Tune into the entire episode to hear more about the ins and outs of FTD and why Heming Willis is working so hard to raise awareness of the disease; plus, she delves into what it felt like to first receive Willis’ diagnosis.