Phil Robertson, patriarch of the Duck Dynasty family, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and a blood disease, according to his family.
Jase and Al Robertson, two of Phil’s sons, revealed the 78-year-old’s medical update in the December 6 episode of the Robertson family’s Unashamed podcast.
“You know, Phil’s not doing well,” Jase said. “According to the doctors, they’re sure that he has some sort of blood disease that’s causing all kinds of problems.”
Al added that Phil has had that blood disease for years and that it has “gotten a lot worse” recently.
“Yeah. It’s, like, accelerated, and it’s causing problems with his entire body,” Jase went on. “And he has early stages of Alzheimer’s. So, if you put those things together, he’s just not doing well. He’s really struggling.”
Despite Phil’s memory loss condition, Jase said the Duck Commander businessman is eager to continue participating in the podcast. “But I’m like, ‘Well, Phil, you can barely walk around without, you know, crying out in pain,’” Jase recalled. “And I was like, ‘You know, your memory is not what it once was.’ He’s like, ‘Tell me about it.’ So he is literally unable to — I think he would agree — to just sit down and have a conversation.”
Al observed that his father has good days and bad days. “There’ll be some days he’s a little better, a little more with you, and other days, not so much.”
Jase told listeners that the family is trying different things to make Phil comfortable and ease his memory issues. “We’ve got a team of doctors, and then we have another set of doctors who are looking at all the tests, and they’re all in agreement, that there’s no curing what he has.”
Phil and his family — a Louisiana clan behind a duck call business — starred in Duck Dynasty for its 11-season run on A&E between 2012 and 2017. A&E briefly suspended Phil from the show in 2013 after he made homophobic comments in a GQ interview. Following Duck Dynasty’s end, Phil starred in the 2017 digital series In the Woods With Phil.
More Headlines:
Mark Withers, ‘Dynasty’ & ‘Stranger Things’ Actor, Dies at 77‘Duck Dynasty’ Star Phil Robertson Diagnosed With Alzheimer’s Disease, Sons Say10 Years Ago, A Man Was Nearly ‘Eaten Alive’ by an Anaconda on Discovery ChannelAre You a ‘Final Jeopardy’ Genius? Test Your Brainpower With These Clues‘Yule Log’ Creator Casper Kelly Dishes on Wild New Sequel ‘Branchin’ Out’
