Eric Dane Says He’s ‘Hopeful’ Amid ALS Battle: ‘I Don’t Think This Is the End of My Story’

Eric Dane is holding on to hope amid his battle with ALS.

ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease. It is an incurable, degenerative disease that progressively paralyzes a patient's muscles.

This week, Dane opened up his diagnosis with Diane Sawyer for “Good Morning America.” 

In part two of his interview, which aired on Tuesday, he spoke about his desire to fight the disease.

Dane told Diane, “I’m very hopeful. I don’t think this is the end of my story. I’m very resilient…. I just don’t feel like in my heart this is the end of me.”

It was revealed in the segment that the “Euphoria” actor is taking medication to slow the symptoms and also taking part in a research study.

Eric was joined by his physician, Dr. Merit Cudkowicz of Massachusetts General Brigham Neuroscience Institute.

He insisted, “I will fly to Germany and eat the head off a rattlesnake if she told me that would help.”

Cudkowicz also revealed there is a rise in ALS cases, and she feels the numbers are going up “too fast.”

When Sawyer asked about environmental concerns, the doctor shared, “Everybody is worried about plastics for neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer’s as well as ALS, in lakes. There is some worry that some bacteria in lakes could be a risk factor. We worry about head trauma, because we see ALS more common in people in certain sports… We worry about pesticides as well. Being in the military is a risk factor. Those are the ones we know about, but there are many that we don’t know about.”

Cudkowicz added, “It is a hard diagnosis to hear, but I want [patients] to hear that there is hope. I never want them to hear there is nothing to do because there is a lot to do.”

Sharing some good news, she added, “Between artificial intelligence and other imaging technology to really be able to subtype people, that’s what gets me excited, and that’s all coming one to two years, if not faster.”

During Monday’s segment, Dane opened up about the initial symptoms he noticed before his diagnosis.

The “Grey’s Anatomy” star shared, “I started experiencing some weakness in my right hand and I didn’t really think anything of it at the time. I thought maybe I had been texting too much or my hand was fatigued, but a few weeks later I noticed it got a little worse. So, I went and saw a hand specialist, who sent me to another hand specialist. I went and saw a neurologist and the neurologist sent me to another neurologist and said, ‘This is way above my pay grade.'”

“I will never forget those three letters,” Eric said of having ALS. “It’s on me the second I wake up. It’s not a dream.”

He said a year and a half after his diagnosis, he has “one functioning arm.”

“My left side is functioning, my right side has completely stopped working,” he said, adding his left arm “is going.”

Dane explained, “I feel like maybe a couple more months and I won’t have my left hand either. It’s sobering.”

He told Diane he’s now “worried about my legs.”