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Actor Bruce Willis has been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia or FTD, his family announced on Thursday. Last spring, Willis had previously been diagnosed with aphasia, a disorder that can affect a person’s ability to speak. Unfortunately, the two disorders can overlap, and that’s likely the case with Willis, says Travis Groft, Ph.D., Madonna’s senior director of neuropsychology.
Jayslynn “Jays” Ramirez has always loved Christmas, and this year the holiday will mean even more to her and her family. That’s because Jays will be home for the first time since an August car accident left her with a brain injury. While she recovered at Madonna, her care team incorporated her love of Christmas into her therapy, like decorating the Christmas tree. “That’s the cool part about doing things that patients love because you’re able to marry the therapy and what they want to do together, and that way everyone wins,” Bridget Mulhall, an occupational therapy student who worked with Jays at Madonna, said.
In sports, you learn practice makes perfect, and that’s the mindset 18-year-old Steele McLaren applied to his rehabilitation journey at Madonna. After suffering brain trauma while on a hunting trip, the three-sport athlete from Atlantic, Iowa showed why he’s “Strong as Steele.” And just like on the football field, Steele didn’t face this fight alone. His care team, and 35,000 people on the Facebook page “Praying for Steele #32 strong,” cheered him on every step of the way.
Sidney Doane of Downs, Kansas, has been awarded the 2020 GOAL Award by Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals.
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