Celebrating the Small Miracles While Facing the Loss of Basic Functions

It’s easy to take for granted the things we expect to always be there. It’s easy to take for granted the basic daily functions the human race was created to enjoy, such as vision, hearing or the ability to walk, to exercise or to eat and drink. It’s ingrained in us and when we are born with it, over time it becomes hard to imagine there would come a day we would have to part with something of this magnitude. Or so I have learned.

At 17 I started to get nausea, after having already struggled with abdominal pain for years prior. It was my normal, even though it’s not normal. At 19 my health status gave way to an innumerable amount of
illnesses. Somehow something damaged my vagus nerve and gastric muscles. Gastroparesis is my diagnosis.

My condition is progressive.

 

I’m losing the ability to eat or drink anything. Food is so not enjoyable for me and while I still have a handful of foods I can handle – for the most part – liquids are worse.

I never in a million years would have imagined this would come. How could anyone imagine this?

But, that is not all. My body is struggling in so many ways. What once came easy for me now has me facing an uphill battle. What I wish others would understand is how lucky they are. Even if it doesn’t feel like it, being alive is a blessing. Being able to meet these basic daily functions is incredible. It’s a miracle in and of itself. Miracles don’t have to be something big like being cured from an incurable illness. For me, I realized miracles are the million little things we don’t think about. The hundreds of functions our bodies perform for survival, because even if my body is struggling, I was still created for something amazing. We all were.

When we are faced with challenges so big, such as the loss of basic functions in the body, it’s confusing. However, confusing as it is, I
now know we were always created to be victorious. We have strength within us that comes out of nowhere during the times we need it the most. While society revolves around food. Delicious new meals and
desserts. TV shows on cooking. Books of recipes with enticing photos. Holidays, birthdays, pretty much every social gathering you can think of. Dates, wedding receptions. You name it, you will most likely find food. Some kind of refreshments. That’s OK. The nutrition found in foods and the hydration from liquids are what sustains us.

I should know. As one who has struggled with malnourishment and severe dehydration I know the devastating toll it can take on the body. But, I also know the victory of making it to even just 500 calories in a day, or 1,000 calories a day. I know the victory and excitement of even just eating a few bites of food, or sipping a few ounces of liquids. It’s easy to take for granted the things our body was created to do, but that’s not me. I’m grateful for life.

What I wish to ask of everyone who has read this is to just try and remember how blessed you are to be able to enjoy a healthy lifestyle of eating healthy and exercising, because it’s a luxury some don’t have. If this is a luxury you are not blessed to have, remember, you were blessed with courage and the ability to come out victorious. Your life still has a purpose, and in courage you will find who you were created to be.

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Thinkstock photo via Olarty.