Willie Robertson, the son of “Duck Dynasty” star and patriarch Phil Robertson, came out and shared some additional details about his father’s health struggles, saying that he is “battling many different things at the same time,” but is “sharp as ever” when it comes to biblical knowledge. Which means this is a man that had his priorities right and invested in taking in the Bible as deeply as he could. We should all be so dedicated to reading Scripture.
“He’s got a blood disorder, and then he’s got the mental issues that could be early [on-set] Alzheimer’s … and probably some ministrokes because of his blood,” Willie said in an interview with Fox News Digital concerning the topic of his 78-year-old father.
“And so, it could be some stroke stuff happening, that has happened. So, we’re still checking on all that. But then he also has a back issue, he’s fractured his back and that’s where the pain’s at. So, he’s kind of battling many different things at the same time,” he added.
He then revealed the issue that’s having the biggest negative impact on his father’s life is the back pain, saying, “especially in any situation where he’s getting up from the seated position or laying position, [it’s] super stressful for him, too, and very painful.”
“We’ve got several other things we’re looking at, trying some different medications. And, again, it’s a little bit more difficult with the pain issue, with the back, because that seems to dominate a lot of just his day-to-day is just from that. So we’re trying to get his back fixed up so that he can at least move around. We’re trying several different things. We’ve seen many doctors and [are] just getting the best care we can and best things that we can, and trying to figure out what’s next,” Robertson continued in the interview.
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The blood disorder is causing his father to produce “too much blood,” making it thicker and potentially leading to ministrokes, Willie said.
“It’s hard with the mental stuff,” Willie said. “It’s hard to determine exactly what these causes are, especially with early signs, it’s hard to determine brain damage from stroke or is that Alzheimer’s?” He added, “I know that’s in their family. Other siblings he has have had some of the same type of things as well. This has happened with just about all of his siblings that have passed away.”
The “Duck Dynasty” star also has an “enlarged spleen, which could be pushing on the stomach, and which could cause some of the appetite things.” Earlier in December, Phil Robertson’s son, Jase, revealed the state of his father’s health on an episode of the “Unashamed with the Robertson Family” podcast, prompting a flood of support on social media.
“Phil’s not doing well. We were trying to figure out the diagnosis, but according to the doctors, they are sure that he has some sort of blood disease causing all kinds of problems,” Jase explained on the show. Yet, despite all of these health troubles, which are clearly extensive, Jase stated on the podcast that his father wants to come back to the show.
“I’m like, ‘Well, Phil, you can barely walk around without crying out in pain, and your memory is not what it once was,’” remarked Jase. “He’s like, ‘Tell me about it.’”
Later in the conversation with Fox News, Willie said that while his dad is going through a lot, he’s “as sharp as ever” when it comes to his faith and his knowledge of the Bible.
“He goes right back to that, and so we find those are things that seem to comfort him,” Willie stated. “He still quotes the Bible and still talks about his faith in God, so I think that’s been comforting and something that he hasn’t lost yet. He can’t speak like he used to and teach his class, and so he’s kind of taking a break from that and his podcast and stuff. But it’s still strong and vital to him, he just can’t always make the words and thoughts that I think that he wants to make.”
Willie concluded by saying, “His faith is such an important part of his life. And life is short and temporary, and he’s always known that. And we’ve always had such an eternal perspective, really, on life itself. We’re not sad, we realize this is, you know, these are things that happen on this Earth, and we deal with them.”