Rebecca Gayheart Discusses Eric Dane's Hospital Stay on Today Show

Actress Rebecca Gayheart opened up about the final weeks of her husband Eric Dane's hospitalization in an interview with Maria Shriver that aired on NBC's Today program on Tuesday. Dane, who died in February after publicly revealing his ALS diagnosis, had been hospitalized multiple times before his condition worsened.

Gayheart said she initially expected the hospital visit to be routine, noting, "> He had gone to the hospital so many times before, and they would patch him up, and he would come home. And we’d go back to the normal routine, which did change week by week."

She recalled that the situation changed around the third day of the stay, when the tone of the doctors' communication shifted. "I think it was like day three in the hospital where it shifted," she said.

Gayheart explained that, although Dane was aware of his illness, the rapid decline was unexpected. "A lot of people will say, ‘Well, at least you knew, and you could have those last conversations,’ but we didn’t know, because there is no road map. No one can tell you what the journey looks like because it’s so different for every patient," she said.

The family tried to create a comforting environment in the hospital room, holding sleepovers with their daughters, using battery-operated candles and playing Dane's favorite music. "The girls and I just camped out there with him, and we had our family sleepovers," she added.