Duck Dynasty stars Phil and Kay Robertson are each dealing with health issues, and their sons shared an update on Wednesday (April 2).
In a new episode of the Unshamed podcast, Jase and Al Robertson updated fans on how their parents, Phil and Kay, are doing amid ongoing health struggles.
Phil Robertson, Duck Dynasty patriarch and creator of the Duck Commander brand, was diagnosed with a blood disorder and Alzheimer’s late last year. The blood disorder diagnosis came after Phil started having back problems, Al Robertson told CBN in January. He also revealed that his dad’s back problems became so severe that he had to undergo “two or three procedures” last year.
The pain associated with the back problems made the elder Robertson’s dementia symptoms evident to his family.
“We had noticed a little bit of forgetting words and things like that, but you know, he’s 78 and you’re not sure if that’s just getting older,” Al said. “It seemed to happen very fast.”
Miss Kay, Phil’s wife of nearly 60 years, has suffered a series of health issues herself, including a fall that caused her to break her foot and led to several weeks of rehab. And a recent fall led to another hospitalization.
The Robertson family shared a new update about Phil and Kay and revealed that they are temporarily living apart.
In Wednesday’s episode (April 2) of Unashamed, Al and Jase Robertson shared an update about their parents. “I’m just giving the blunt truth,” Jase said of how he responds when people ask how Phil is doing. “Not good.”
Al revealed that Phil and Kay haven’t been able to “be together in proximity for a few weeks.” He added that his parents Facetime each other frequently and that they light up when they see each other on the phone screen.
“The spark that comes in their eyes when they see one another is really touching. It reminds you of the blessing we get on earth to have somebody to carry burdens with and the beauty of marriage and relationships,” he said. “To be honest, that’s dad’s only consistent north star is mom.”
The brothers also detailed some of Phil’s memory issues, sharing stories of their dad getting frustrated about why he can’t remember things. Al and Jase responded to criticism the family had received about “not speaking life” into their parents. They made it clear that their faith affects how they view life, death, and eternity and said that they are doing everything they feel like they should be doing to make sure Phil and Kay are taken care of.
Miss Kay Robertson is “bouncing back” after a frightening hospitalization.
Later in the episode, Jase revealed that things had been looking “pretty grim” for Miss Kay and that they had refrained from sharing updates on her because “it could go either way.”
He said that Kay had developed an infection after a fall that caused a cut and had been hospitalized for 11 days. She is still in a hospital, of sorts, but “it’s more of a rehab.” Things were looking bad for Miss Kay, according to her sons who said that they “were dealing with the fact that this might be it … it was difficult.”
But Kay has turned a corner in the last week and is “really bouncing back and doing much better.”
Watch Jase and Al Robertson’s update on their parents in the video below.
