Recently I've been transitioning to a softer diet to eliminate chances of choking on my food. This doesn't mean I'm sitting back being fed baby food puree, although it may feel like it at times. I'm still eating noodles, certain snack foods, ground meats, soup, applesauce, etc. We had a dollar store blender for making my favorite go-to meal, protein smoothies. However, that blender couldn't hack it, it exploded and now we have a kick ass Ninja.
Just like every other concession I've had to make because of fucking ALS, I fought it. You can only choke on sharp foods and breads so many times before you develop anxiety and fear of that experience. Michelle stood right by my side, easing this transition into place. She didn't freak out, she kept eating times as normal as possible and even when we eat totally different meals we have them together, or she'll have soup just so I can eat it too. She's my Superhero in all of this.
With this diet transition comes bodily changes. I think what I'm eating is healthier than what I had previously stuffed down my gullet. However, with straws becoming harder to use, making my water consumption go down, I load up on fiber. My bowel movements have become more spaced out and I'm full of gas at all times. Too much information? I don't really care. It isn't an easy task for someone to go poop that has ALS. Someone has to disconnect my eye-gaze, drive me into the bathroom, pull down my pants and lift me onto the toilet, so that I'm comfortable I might add. Not every time I sit on the throne is successful, I don't always have results. Today wasn't a day I could waste hours on the potty. I had an email frenzy at hand to get the message out about our next fundraiser. This is where Macgyver Kris came out swinging. Bowel movements be damned, I was going to multi-task.
This may seem like the silliest example of finding Grace in a day that I've blogged about in a long time, but it really meant a lot to me to not cave to ALS circumstances today. Even though my body got in the way, I was able to get a win today. Whenever I win, I'm showered in Grace.
