Eric Dane initially misdiagnosed with treatable illness just months before receiving his ALS 'death sentence'
Eric Dane's posthumous memoir revealed that he was diagnosed with a treatable autoimmune disease before learning that he had ALS.
The Euphoria star died earlier this year at the age of 53, a year after revealing that he'd been diagnosed with the progressive neurodegenerative disease.
Writing about the diagnosis in his memoir, My Book of Days: A Memoir in Moments, Dane explained that he'd initially sought medical treatment after realising that he was losing use of his right hand.
Recalling the difficulties in getting answers from medical professionals, Dane wrote that he was initially referred to a hand specialist, who then 'passed him off' to another hand specialist and eventually a 'neurologist'.
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"I shuttled from doctor to doctor and underwent a battery of tests, including one called an EMG, an electromyography test," he wrote.
The neurologist then concluded that he was likely developing 'some form of neuropathy' before passing him on to another doctor.
After undergoing various tests, he was handed a diagnosis of multifocal motor neuropathy, an illness he describes as a 'rare autoimmune disorder causing extreme muscle weakness' which has a '90 percent effective' treatment.
But when the Grey's Anatomy actor didn't respond to the treatment for the condition, which causes damage to peripheral nerves, his medical team were left considering the possibility of ALS.
He then underwent further testing, which included a lumbar puncture and various brain scans, before it was confirmed that he had the disease.
What are the symptoms of ALS?
According to the ALS Association, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis symptoms typically begin in the hands, arms, legs or feet and can also include issues with speech and swallowing.
Common early symptoms include:
- Tripping or difficulty walking
- Dropping objects
- Fatigue in the arms or legs
- Slurred or slowed speech
- Muscle cramps or twitching
- Episodes of uncontrollable laughing or crying
For Dane, he previously revealed that his first ALS symptom was having the inability to use chopsticks while having sushi with his daughters, due to his fingers feeling ‘numb’.
ALS does not impact a person's sight, touch, hearing, taste, smell, eye muscles, or bladder control.
As the disease progresses and more nerve cells in the body die, it becomes difficult to swallow, speak or breathe. Patients will also become unable to walk and may also experience personality changes.
There is currently no cure for motor neuron disease - patients tend to live around two to five years after diagnosis.
Reflecting on receiving the diagnosis in 2024, Dane referred to the condition as a 'death sentence', explaining that he'd felt as though he was 'getting the wind knocked out' of him after hearing the news.
He also dedicated the book to his two teenage daughters - Billie, 16, and Georgia, 14 - spending the final chapter writing about his hopes and dreams for them.
This included advice against going into the show business, as well as joking that Billie wanted to marry his Euphoria co-star Jacob Elordi.
Dane's former wife Rebecca Gayheart has spoken warmly of her ex-husband's decision to write a book, telling USA Today that their daughters will have a connection to their father as they get older.
"It’s a gift, my daughters don’t have to ask any questions about certain things," she said. "He explains his journey, his life and his words in this book."
Brenna Cooper
