smalife1234

[smalife1234]

Me and my wife edited a video for literal hours (4+) we are exhausted! However we'll be filming more tomorrow (but it's going to be really Short however it's an important topic!) we hope y'all understand that we'll try and get the most out of that tiny clip!

We thank you for watching our weekly vlogs that we put in so much work towards!

Sincerely, Doc & Emmie ❤️

- written June 4th, 2025

[smalife1234]

Time for another discussion about ALS, obviously everyone knows I have ALS and most people know that I've lost a tremendous amount of strength and abilities throughout the 1 year I've been living with ALS

However there are some people that may not know how I got diagnosed or why I was so weak to begin with! So to introduce myself again lol I will begin with saying I'm completely paralyzed from my Mandible jaw down

I cannot move a single limb, I cannot walk, I cannot talk (efficiently) I cannot breathe on my own without the help of a ventilator

I had gotten completely paralyzed in September of 2021 which rendered me at 14% body strength yeah not good! The typical abled bodied strength would be about 200% so I was 186% below the standard body strength, after spending a year locked in and in a coma I had barely recovered enough to get off the Diaphragmatic Pacemaker and ventilator that I was on for 15 months around December of 2022

Shortly after in late 2023 I started experiencing symptoms of ALS: Twitching, slurry speech, trouble breathing, before my symptoms of ALS my lung function was resting around 19% and in one month I had lost 9% of lung function which wasn't normal!

Me and Matthew in early 2024 May went to the doctors to get me checked out and had done many many tests and discovered I had ALS: a motor neuron disease that eventually takes your ability to walk, talk, breathe, eat etc.

That was not good since my body strength had now went to 8.5% total... Now I was 191.5% off the "normal" body strength!

Fast forward 360+ days later to May 28th, 2025 I'm nowweaker than ever before currently my body is resting at the strong powerful 3.3% currently I am 196.7% under the average abled bodied strength

But this also means that my head is now 1% strength and In ALS there's certain points that you require a new form of medical equipment or care for me I have 1 head this now means that I need a permeant head strap for every single time I'm in the car 🚗, I'm not weak enough yet to the point I need a permanent head strap just for moving around I just need it for car rides

As of now my head cannot sustain a simple bumpy card ride.

To the all the gloriously strong people who have necks of steel thank you for reading, From a weak tiny shrimp, Doc ❤️

[smalife1234]

Hey everyone! Updating again... Lol nothing bad this time tho! So that's a start

Today I hit 1 year with ALS which is honestly baffling to me!

So in honor of it I wrote a tiny poem (to the best of my ability) about time & ALS the reason why I decided to write about "Time & ALS" is simply because ALS runs with time even the diagnosis rate involves time

Every 90 minutes someone get diagnosed with ALS, and every 90 minutes someone passes away from ALS

So to you I bring you "Time & ALS"

Time moves, but slower now, it seems,

In echoing halls of broken dreams.

Where once the body danced with grace,

Now stillness grows in time’s embrace.

ALS—three letters, sharp and cold,

A story whispered, rarely told.

It steals in quiet, cruel and deep,

Turning motion into sleep.

The ticking clock, a measured sound,

Marks battles fought without a round.

The hands won’t lift, the feet won’t run,

But still the soul shines like the sun.

Each breath a triumph, word a flame,

A fight to hold a fading name.

Time, once a thief, becomes a friend,

To count each moment to the end.

And though the voice may lose its tone,

The silence speaks: *You’re not alone.*

For time cannot erase the spark,

That lingers even in the dark.

In every glance, in every tear,

Love bends the hours, draws them near.

ALS may still the hands and eyes—

But not the heart, and not the skies.

I hope you enjoyed! Honestly it's been baffling to me that it's been a year and crazy long and fast year

To ALS Fuck you 🖕🏻but to everyone else I thank you all for being apart of this crazy wild journey, thank you ❤️

Sincerely, Doc

[smalife1234]

I'm finding a pattern where I am constantly talking about Bad things...

I'm still not changing that on Sunday afternoon (May 25th) after having a lovely dinner with friends and family, devouring everything in sight and playing a fun game

It was getting close to the time we typically leave I had started to feel somewhat breathless and a bit nauseous, weird but ok so I go to the bathroom thinking maybe that'll help by getting some air and breathing a bit

However everything intensified heavily I started Heavy breathing and somehow saliva started to accumulate at a rapid speed

I was sweating and swallowing as fast as I could I was doing everything and anything in my power not to vomit

This filling kept on for an agonizing 10 minutes after all the pain and quite literal sweat

I.... Burped, not as courageous as you might think however for me finally getting the relief of not about to throw the hell up was amazing and I can proudly say as I'm almost 1 year into my ALS diagnosis (literally 1 day) and the fact that my 8% functioning lungs can expel air!

Hooray for victory that I was never expecting that night! (Even though the photo does express it)

[smalife1234]

Happy mother's day 💐❤️! Yes I may or may have not gotten emotional 4 times already... But that doesn't matter (lol) I'm glad everything is going well as of right now happy mother's day to all the wonderful mother's out there!

[smalife1234]

"Breathing" something I've taken for granted Several times

I have had many problems with my breathing over the years of my SCI (spinal cord injury) and Cystic fibrosis, from surgery, intubation, Abuterol, Inhaler, ventilator, Diaphragmatic Pacemaker etc.

I've had it all, as you can only imagine my shitty lungs compared to a normal set of lungs isn't exactly the greatest and when you add ALS to the mix that only makes it scarier!

I have 8% lung function and require a concution of medications and a ventilator to help me breathe on a day to day basis, Keep in mind I am able to breathe on my own however that function goes away when I stop thinking about breathing

While I have the function to breathe and I have lung function my diaphragm isn't exactly "connecting" with the rest of my body, my nerves can only pass through my C3 vertebra a tiny bit while the rest of my nerves cannot pass, this gives my the ability while thinking about it to breathe on my own

This is huge but also not helpful at night when I sleep I am not thinking of it so that means if my ventilator were to ever come off during the night it would make a painfully ear bleeding alarm that anyone would be sure as hell be able to wake up from.

While I've had this happen to me it's not the end of the world and typically I am ok!

However in the early morning hours of May 4th (2:00Am) I noticed I no longer heard my ventilator running... My ventilator had shut off unexpectedly and I couldn't get it back on, this is the scariest part of having a ventilator and thankfully after the horrible situation I was able to get on another ventilator that I have

It just sounds different and works a tad bit differently however I am doing ok and doing well and I am reporting that my lungs are fine!

To people with healthy lungs this is my nightmare living with ALS & a Spinal Cord Injury 🫁; Doc

[smalife1234]

🚨THINGS HAVE BEEN STRESSFUL 🚨

Since the start of spring break everything has gone down to... Well basically shit

Today I'm giving an update on everything that has happened (to the best of my memory)

In the beginning of spring break everything was alright, it was a normal day until Monday (which is basically when spring break started)

Mom has came home from work early and then Dad was going somewhere but he didn't know yet until we hear a knock at our door we heard the news that our mom's dad or poppy (his nickname) has a blocked artery, and he was at the hospital

We looked it up and saw it was minimally invasive so we had thought "oh well that's good at least he'll recover quickly"

Around 8Pm at night we see the parents arrive, we only see dad get out of the car "well that's weird where's Mom?"

Dad enters the house and we ask what happened? Dad responds the poppy has a blocked artery, a tear in his aorta and a his left ventricle needs to be replaced since it wasn't working correctly

And that he was in major surgery and that'll be 8+ hours long and it was very risky... We had to sleep the whole night not knowing if he would make it, it was honestly terrifying

Later the next day we had visited him in the ICU he was intubated and was with a drainage tube he was not aware of anybody (at least that's what people told me)

After a few days he was able to get the tube removed and he was talking until around maybe April 20th or April 21st he had to get re- intubated because they suspected he has pneumonia but they did that so they could clear his lungs and have him heal faster

Fast forward to yesterday's news (April 22nd) we had heard he got the pace wires out of his heart and he was getting tube fed (through a NG tube) and he had his drainage tube removed a few days prior to this so thankfully he is looking better and doing better!

Thank you all for being incredibly patient and supportive during this difficult time for our family ❤️- Doc & Matthew

*The photo is to represent my emotion during all of this*

- written April 23rd, 2025

[smalife1234]

Today I'm talking about my colostomy recovery and journey!

I'm 11 years old experiencing horrible stomach pain, constant diarrhea my mom is getting worried and we end up going to the doctors I get diagnosed with "Chrons disease"

Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that causes swelling and irritation of the tissues, called inflammation, in the digestive tract. This can lead to belly pain, severe diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss and malnutrition.

Because of this I lost drastic amount of weight, and became very unhealthy shortly after around 16 years old or 2019 I became paralyzed from the chest down (I was a paraplegic but also a Quadriplegic if that makes any sense)

So I didn't have the best control of my bowels or bladder learning to navigate chrons with a almost completely paralyzed bowel was very difficult and almost felt impossible, my parents when I threw up feces and was going through literally every symptom and issue scheduled a Colostomy surgery.

At this time I just brushed it off saying "I'm fine" a few short years later at 19 years old I became a completely paralyzed Quadriplegic again leading to a complete neurogenic bowel this now meaning I had no control over anything..

Worst of all I couldn't feel or move anything below my tracheostomy hole down this made the battle with Chrons even harder and even more debilitating...

It felt crushing I couldn't do anything on my own and having those debilitating symptoms on top of that made me feel inevitably helpless after Many years past my injury (approximately 3 years, 6 months) I decided on the biggest surgery of my life... Colostomy surgery

A colostomy is surgery to create an opening for the colon (large intestine) through the belly (abdomen), that in itself sounds like a very scary operation, and being a quadriplegic makes all that even harder!

I swung for it anddd I am ok everything went well and thankfully my body didn't go haywire!

It's been approximately 23 days with my Colostomy bag! I've been recovering very well! No horrible pain (even though I cannot really feel pain sooo...)

That so far has been my Colostomy surgery recovery journey ❤️‍🩹, and the reason I got it.

Thank you all for reading ❤️, Doc

[smalife1234]

Happy Valentine's day 💌! You all know that this day is for spreading love to people you love weather that your faithful partner (girlfriend, boyfriend, fiance, husband or wife) or your family members!

This day holds a very place in my heart ❤️ for several reasons

#1 being the fact that this date is super close to me and Emmie,s second year dating!! Which is honestly baffling not only has this opportunity not been the greatest one I've partaked in (besides marrying Matthew and Emmie 😉) I've also found that I'm incredibly grateful for Emmie in my life she has made me 10x happier and I couldn't live without her!

#2 being the fact that this is also the second Valentine's day I'm celebrating with my wife Emmie! As most of you know or don't know me and my wife (girlfriend at the time) started dating in February 18th of 2023 since we slightly passed Valentine's Day we couldn't celebrate it together that wasn't too bad; but in 2024 it was The first Valentine's day with my girlfriend! It felt super magical and it was a amazing! This one being the official second Valentine's day with my wife & my 6th one with my husband 💌❤️!

#3 being the anniversary of Williams SCI ( spinal cord injury) today or technically yesterday hit Williams 1 year since getting his spinal cord in injury; he had attempted suicidal attempt, he has gone through aot kg stuff that I could never go through! He is an amazing friend and I understand those thoughts and get you William I do, I'm extremely proud of you ❤️!

This is an important day for everyone! And for those lonely on this day just know you are loved ❤️

Happy Valentine's day everyone 🪄💌.

[smalife1234]

Hey everyone we're about to upload another video soon!

But there's a twist kinda... Typically I upload a video Around 7:00Pm but sadly because of editing and everything I am uploading my video around 8:00Pm! Thank you all for being patient!

[smalife1234]

We have changed our profile picture! As most of you we have been slacking and I'm sorry I'm going to try and resume weekly smiles just trying with different dates I've honestly been burnt out! But I decided to change things up!

I think it's a great new change since August!

[smalife1234]

Hey everyone this weekly smile was supposed to be posted yesterday! Super sorry for the wait here ya go!

↓

What made me smile this week?

Monday, 1/6/25 - Today out of unexpected news we got the day off! Because of the horrible weather, we got the entire day off. I hope everyone is doing well from the bad weather but it also meant we got to stay home an extra day this week which is great! Today me and Donny had chilled for the majority of the day. Today was an exciting day because I found a new amazing game! Called Cells! It's basically like this puzzle-themed game where everything connects to one thing or another. You can find different life forms such as planets, dinosaurs, cavemen, and human features and ideas! And even the most modern-day stuff back in time! It's super addicting, always wanting to find out more and more. It keeps me hooked to the game and I already have 7+ hours of gameplay… which is slightly embarrassing to admit! But I am hooked and I love the game. Currently I have unlocked dinosaurs and planets and a lot of the DNA and prokaryotic cells! It even gives you facts which are always fun to learn! I'm on stage 5 of the Dinosaurs which is really good and sadly only stage 2 or 3 of the planets since it's very hard to upgrade those and the primary doesn't really have upgrades you just go along the course! I'm excited to go further into this game and I've been in a really good mood today which is great following up on that we had dishes and just got to chill. Today was a really great day and it reminded me to enjoy the small moments out of the current chaos that our life has become. Today made me smile!

Tuesday, 1/7/25 - today we have a two-hour delay which is great because we get to go on the bus later and have plenty of time to wake up and get ready freely we went to school and we just chilled but sadly in the morning we heard our friend might have liver cancer and that another one of our friend's house burnt down. It was awful devastating news and it made Donny and Willam have a panic attack and cry! I really hope both are doing well and are making it through ok! We texted Dad to pick us up early and he got us and we just casually stayed home for the rest of the day during which we played games and just hung out knowing we needed to take a chill day today thankfully taking a chill day had calmed us a bit and we were able to chill and just take it easy! Today was definitely hard and it did make us worried for them but we made the best we could out of today and it made us smile

Wednesday, 1/8/25 - today sadly is a regular day but today went a little better I suppose in first period I had just worked on a flip book from third period since I left halfway through the lesson and building of the book but I got that finished and just done the rest of my assignment and then in second period I had worked on a 60 question review paper which Im positive Im taking the exam because of my bad grade which sucks but I'm persevering! Then in third, we had watched a case about Terri a woman who had a potassium deficiency or imbalance potassium leading to a cardiac arrest or heart attack which led to a brain injury she was described in a “present vegetative state” it was pretty interesting to learn about and we just got in groups depending on whose side we agreed with, then shortly in fourth period I had worked on our big final paper and heard many directions on it! Hopefully, I can get the paper turned in and finished today so I don't have to worry about it on Friday! Shortly after we waited for the bus in the frigid cold weather while waiting Donny and Willam told me that their friend had a collapsed lung and her grandpa died last Sunday which omg how bad can our luck get! I feel for her as I lost my grandpa at the age of 13 a long time ago but I can understand her pain and struggle, I do hope she is doing well and can get through the grieving process healthily today we tried to just take it easy and thankfully some parts of today made me smile! Also, I was supposed to have chemotherapy and I did however I started it so late since I forgot lol! So I had to end around 1:00 AM which is the latest I ended chemo but I had filmed and got out the video before that time!

Thursday, 1/9/25 - today we had a normal day and we had to wait at the bus stop. Keep in mind it's 19 degrees where we are so that's super cold! We were shivering so much in the first period I had worked on some assignments and then I had worked on a YouTube description and just caught up on all the work that I do for y'all! I'm hoping today goes better! Shortly after in second period I continued working on a massive 60-question review and managed to get to question 38 which isn't too bad, shortly after in the third period we had talked about the decomposition of the body and what the different stages of decomposition were, in fourth we had talked more about our giant paper and then continued to work on our paper and I got a bit done but working more on it Friday.

Friday, 1/10/25 - today we have a half day at school meaning it's 4 hours shorter and we leave at 12:30 which is not bad! In first period we tested out our testing laptops that we'll be taking the final exam on, and then we continued working on our paper or at least some of it then in second I had finished up the big paper and got it turned in which is a good thing sadly I have to take the chemistry exam so I have to come next Monday and Tuesday which sucks but at least it's only two days which are shorter than regular school days, then in third we had an entire hour to study and work on missing work for other classes so I worked on my paper got things dimmed down and then were heading to forth really soon!

Saturday, 1/11/25 - today we just chilled for the most part, soon enough we were just playing Pokemon TGC pocket and during that time I got a gold crown rare mew!! It was absolutely amazing and I was super happy that I got that card! Then we casually chilled for today sadly I had to edit today for tomorrow's video! Hopefully, everything will go well! We had a great day today and I apologize for today's short entry! But nothing really happened today that made me smile!

Sunday, 1/12/25 - today I have my 74th round of chemotherapy instead of my 75th. I've been messing up in recent videos since I titled a video wrong super sorry about that! So I've changed the titles to the appropriate chemo round but if you hear me saying the wrong one I apologize for that I was just confused lol but my chemotherapy round went well and no bad symptoms happened in fact I ate more than I ever have I ate an entire chicken nugget in 13 minutes! And then ate some of my wife's burger 🍔 it was yummy! Then I casually edited more videos and got that video updated & uploaded! So please feel free to watch it! Shortly we just hung out and found out that we don't have school Monday because of the ice. I hope everyone is doing well! And traveling safely! And I hope everyone had a fantastic week. Now the most important question of the week?!

What made you smile this week?

Img desc #1: doc and Emmie are seen smiling doc is seen smiling in her electric wheelchair while wearing a green short-sleeved shirt and beige-colored pants Emmie is seen smiling right beside Doc and is seen with her arm propped up on Doc's chair Emmie is wearing a grey long-sleeved hoodie.

Img desc #2: a mannequin is shown with pre-built muscles (Built out of clay) on their maniquenn before taking it off.

Img desc #3: a set of clay lungs is seen set on a white paper towel 🧻

Img desc #4: a picture of Grandmoo,s garden with snow covering it.

Img desc #5: a picture of Doc's crown rare mew is seen on Doc's phone.

Img desc #6: doc's full chicken nugget before she devoured it in 13 minutes.

[smalife1234]

Here comes some big news coming y'all's way!!

Y'all may have noticed that Throughout the course of months, y'all have not seen any surgery videos or updates at the very least and I want to say we've been busy with so much! And we do apologize my doctors kept scheduling me but I wouldn't come in which I know is bad on my part but let me explain as you have seen or noticed we were uploading like rapid fire in December almost receiving no break and that took a gigantic toll on us!

I had my ceremony and so much more to the point we could barely relax six days out of the entire month!! Now I have to say this

On Wednesday I have scheduled my wrist and esophagus surgery! I'm finally taking action on the free time I do have and taking action for my wrist surgery since that surgery is extremely important! And so is my esophagus surgery I'm trying to start fresh and start uploading the surgeries monthly or getting my esophagus surgery monthly (my wrist surgery is every four months) I hope y'all are happy with me again (lol) but I hope this clears everything up and helps me swallow better! Because I haven't had my surgery in almost 5 months!! Which is crazy overdue

Have a great day everyone!

Img desc #1: doc is seen out in the sun sitting in her old electric wheelchair she is wearing a hat a black short-sleeved shirt skinny jeans and a pair of sunglasses she is giving a big smile! (Back when it was warm)

Img desc #2: doc is seen in a professionally shot photo she is wearing a long-sleeved dark blue shirt and beige-colored pants she is smiling brightly.

- written January 12th 2025

[smalife1234]

I first want to say that I do love putting a new year in the weekly smiles!

And secondly please enjoy the read! I love you all and I am super grateful for all y'all's support 💞

Now on to weekly smiles

↓

What made me smile this week?

Monday, 12/30/24 - today we kept editing our vlogs and videos until the new year tomorrow we're supposed to upload! So I'm getting prepared for that and I'm pretty excited for the video because so far it looks pretty good and is going pretty well. Today was a very chill day. Today we just chilled and then we watched several videos and honestly chilled on gun idle which we rediscovered! And so far it's been keeping us content LOL I've been on the game Blacksmith way more often and have made lots of progress which I'm very proud of! Today was a chill and lazy day lol so we don't have much input!

Tuesday, 12/31/24 - today is 1 day before the new year! I am so excited for this year to end but also it's close to my son's 1 year since passing away we miss him dearly and I find myself thinking of it more but it's good to be open about it so I have worked on the final touches of the newest YouTube video coming out today but we had decided to upload it on new years day! At 1:00Am as to chart the very first video in 2025! Around 8:00 Pm we got called to play games with the family before the new year! We had a great time until Dad and Mom got drunk and then Mom started getting all annoying and went to bed early again. We have no problem with her going to bed. It was just out of nowhere and typically that means something is wrong! So we were confused but we let her sleep we called out sister mack to tell her everything that was going on because we were worried about Mom shortly Mom woke up and she had written a note saying don't bother happy new year and we were worried at this point shortly after that literally minutes later mom had woke up again and went outside with a blanket we had followed her out there to see what was wrong she didn't reply to us and was mad because we cared?? The parents ended up having a large fight there was crying and then we poured all the alcohol down the drain and then went to macks house for the night, the cute part of it all was Gizmo had balled up on my pillow and it was so adorable then Around 5Am smudge had joined me behind my back I got some sleep but not lot's of it and then we went home around 7Am and then when we got home and the parents were casually watching TV and if nothing happened. But we were ok for the rest of the day and just tried to avoid the parents most of the day. The rest of the day we just tried to enjoy and today made me smile.

Wednesday, 1/1/25 - it's now officially the new year. I want to say we had the most epic time but we didn't… and currently, we're trying to enjoy it the best we can. We have been playing games most of today and we've just been laughing at some funny moments! We had fun playing games and we didn't really do much. We apologize for this short entry but yes it has been a tough time these past day and a half and has been almost absolutely miserable… But we're making the best out of everything we could do. Happy New Year to you all. I hope your new year is going way better than ours.

Thursday, 1/2/25 - today we had a way better day our mom was still in a mood and was still slightly bitchy (sorry for the language) but we did enjoy this day way better I got a new leg mate in my chair which has been beneficial they had thought that blood polling to my limp legs all day wasn't the greatest so we decided to change and it gives less risk to my feet being less swollen! It is a good thing we had a good day of listening to Instagram audios and having a funny time talking about weird things lol thankfully today was easier than the past two days! Which is always a good thing today made me smile.

Friday, 1/3/25 - today was pretty chill. We found out about a new Earth game today and we've been playing it for a while now and have been making great progress. We've been watching so many videos of a Quadriplegics channel and we've been enjoying her videos! We've been talking about catheters and talking about very funny things LOL 🤣! Especially Emmie lol we've been having a fun time today and thankfully today was super chill again super sorry for the short entry. I've just been burnt out! I've honestly been trying to enjoy the “break” but as of currently I've uploaded 6 videos and 5 podcasts and working on the 7th videos all since December 20th which is insane! I've missed the last weekly smiles so I'm working on that! It's just so exhausting to constantly keep up with these ridiculously long ALS post-the-festive Holiday episodes, the constant four-day chemo rounds, and my wife's anniversary! It's been very hectic and I'm just waiting for it to slow down which Will hopefully come soon! But it's almost over the entire break which for me is honestly crazy! On how much of this break that I've been working… I'm super grateful for everyone's support! And today made me smile!

Saturday, 1/4/25 - today is almost the last day of our break. Today we had a pretty chill morning, we laughed, and then shortly I started my 73rd round of chemotherapy! If I'm being honest, the 70's are not doing me well… I started filming the horrific video that you all will see at 10:50 tonight which is crazy. It was honestly such a crazy video! But I've been writing the last weekly smiles and thankfully got it out and I've been writing descriptions for videos that are lacking a description but thankfully I got some of those done! And I've been working for almost 5 hours straight today which to me is honestly baffling but I'm almost done!!! Yes, freedom lol but I've been chilling and typing my entire heart out! Today has been good. It's just been very busy but today made me smile!

Sunday, 1/5/25 - today it's our brother's birthday! His big 21st we wish him a good happy birthday sadly we didn't get any footage but we did have a fun time watching him open his presents, he got a cool Transformers video game and he got vodka and blue and red liquid to make optimus prime shots I doubt he'll drink any lol but it was cool to see! He hung out most of the day with his girlfriend Nancy we mainly out the majority of the day doing the typical laundry and just chilling out for a few we helped organize moms shoes for a bit (not really an entire hour had gone by) but we got it done and then we actually had a chill day lol I filmed some content for autism and disabilities and worked on some more YouTube things like an upcoming thumbnail and things! Shortly after we heard that we had a 2-hour delay tomorrow! Which is pretty exciting! It's good to know that we get some time off of our school day! And this week which is a good thing! I am super sorry for the absence recently of the weekly smiles especially last week's but I do hope that being on time with this one will make up for the last one! 🫣But I am super grateful for you all! And lastly the most important Question of the week!?

What made you smile this week?

Img desc #1: doc is seen in a professionally shot photo she is on a bridge and smiling beside someone else while wearing a dark blue long-sleeved shirt colored jeans and brown shoes not seen in the photo.

Img desc #2: doc is seen looking annoyed near plants she is sitting in her old electric wheelchair while wearing a grey short-sleeved shirt and dark grey shorts.

Img desc #3: doc and Emmie are seen smiling together near a bunch of food Doc seen on the left is seen smiling while wearing a dark blue short-sleeved shirt saying the words in white text "Tumblr" and brown shorts Emmie is seen smiling on the right side of the image is seen in a grey hoodie with her arms crossed both of them are smiling.

Img desc #4: smudge their cat seen at Mack's house on the couch behind Matthews's back balled up. He is a Siamese cat

[smalife1234]

I've been terrible at weekly smiles and so I do apologize! This was last week's weekly smiles

#22

What made me smile this week?

Monday, 12/23/24 - since it is only three days into the Christmas break we haven't been doing too much. lol today I just edited a vlog that should be coming out today! Which is a good thing since I need to get rid of all this footage lol! But I did enjoy today's relaxing day. It's just a little bit hectic uploading-wise since we have the daily festive Holiday episodes and I have to go through chemotherapy on top of that but I'm pushing through! But today was very chill and it made me smile!

Tuesday, 12/24/24 - our wedding reaction video comes out today and I am so beyond excited for y'all to view it me and Emmie worked hard on it and it took up a lot of space in our camera roll but we definitely did enjoy watching it! We decided to do the video 1 month after our 1 month wedding anniversary! And those probably wondering why they don't see a ventilator on me is because we pre-recorded this video in September and I didn't know I would be getting a ventilator in December before the video but I did get a ventilator on December 8th so uhh that's why there is no ventilator on me lol but I hope y'all enjoy the video it was awesome to film but I did get emotional! But today Made me smile. It was just a lot of filming and editing and uploading per usual! Abd today is me and my husband's 4th year married which is honestly baffling! I am so extremely grateful for you Matthew and am so appreciative of everything you do for me and my family. You have made me one proud mama and wife. I am so grateful to be with you and have you. I love you to the moon and back ❤ ️! Happy 4th year baba! But today's busy and heartfelt day made me smile!

Wednesday, 12/25/24 - today is Christmas!!! We are super excited for it to be finally Christmas lol today we have to celebrate Christmas later than usual because our brother is at work and our sister has to work until 4:00 P.m. which is the original time that we thought we were going to be celebrating Christmas however we soon later realized that our brother was working till 6:30 and we would have to be celebrating Christmas around 7:00 which is late but we had chilled for most of the day we had eaten yummy Christmas snacks and then we did a photoshoot near the tree and with Moxie and then later around 7 we had played deal or no deal! It was a very fun game and we got to get an actual 50$ which was crazy and we were thankful for all the gifts. It was really fun and then we headed onto Christmas gifts where we got so much stuff and it was all amazing! We got so many Pokemon packs and when opening them I managed to pull a gold card! Which was honestly shocking! To me, I enjoyed this Christmas and I am so beyond grateful for everyone in my life making the most wonderful Christmas ever! Today made me smile!

Thursday, 12/26/24 - today was the day after Christmas thankfully it was also a chill day we had officially stopped doing the festive episodes about two days ago and hopefully y'all have been enjoying them we are a bit burnt out at the moment but we are taking today to relax well not everyone Donny and William and Donny uploaded there round 50th chemo session today so please feel free to watch that video! But thankfully today was super chill and we got to finally take a semi-break before the big uploading spree! Today made me smile!

Friday, 12/27/24 - today is my 7th month with ALS and thankfully I only lost my arm % which is a good thing considering it's not my breathing or my head going away lol! But I filmed a video about that and then I also uploaded my chemotherapy video on that day as well because my chemotherapy had to land on the same day my ALS anniversary was! But I filmed both and edited both and got everything out extremely late super sorry about that! But I did enjoy today. It was just a lot of editing as usual! I'm just a tad bit burnt out!

Saturday, 12/28/24 - today December 28th we just chilled again since it was just after Christmas we chilled and just played our games and enjoyed all the new events in the Pokemon TGC pocket. I'm sorry for this short entry but nothing really happened today and I already forgot lol! But today made me smile and I am still enjoying my Christmas gifts and finding some of them pretty useful!

Sunday, 12/29/24 - today is the last day of the week, and it is officially only a few days away from the new year! Hopefully, everything goes well in the new year since everything last year had gone down to sh!t and it's also close to my son's 1st anniversary of passing away we miss you dearly Buddy ❤️ I hope you are enjoying it up there in heaven it still hurts to this day but we hope you are safe and happy up there today we spent today just chilling and editing before the big NEW YEAR 🎊! I am super excited for 2025 to come because 2024 has not been good! But today made me smile!

What made you smile this week?

Img desc #1: Emmie is seen smiling while near a TV that has a Christmas-themed show or picture on it Emmie is seen wearing a beige-colored long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans she is sitting in her manual wheelchair while smiling.

Img desc #2: Emmie is seen smiling while wearing a black coat and sunglasses she is near water and smiling

Img desc #3: doc is seen near a bookshelf and smiling she is wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt and black sweatpants.

[smalife1234]

I know I'm recycling a post ♻️ but it is extremely important and this topic really needs to be discussed!! And must I remind you this information will likely remain the same.

Today, on December 27th, 2024, I hit my 7th month with ALS. This is not a post to scare the untrained reader but it is a post to raise awareness and open the eyes of others.

I'm about to drop some cold, hard, and daunting facts that you need to be prepared for. Keep your eyes open and your attention focused!

And I must mind you, this is a long read, so keep your brain active!

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal type of motor neuron disease. It causes progressive degeneration of nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain. It's often called Lou Gehrig's disease after a famous baseball player who died from the disease. ALS is one of the most devastating types of disorders that affect nerve and muscle function ALS doesn't affect the senses (such as seeing or hearing). It also usually doesn't affect mental functioning. It isn't contagious. Currently, there is no cure for this disease. ALS most often affects people between the ages of 40 and 70 (I got diagnosed when I was 73), but it can occur at a younger age. It affects people of all races and ethnic groups. There are two main types of ALS: sporadic - this is the most common form of ALS in the US, making up 90% of cases. These cases occur randomly without any known genetic cause or family history of ALS. The second form of ALS is Familial this is an inherited form of ALS that affects a small number of people but many recent genetic discoveries suggest hereditary forms of ALS are more common than previously thought I have sporadic since none of my family members or past generations in my family had ALS.. now with all the info out of the way I will say the basics it takes all your function/ life generally within 5 or 4 years but some people with ALS outlive those odds! This is wonderful for people with ALS. I lose 0.1% strength in my arms every month. I live with ALS, and the more drastic numbers start declining months in. Every three months you live with ALS, you lose 1% of your head strength! It's not fun. Another thing that prolongs my life is how lengthy the process is for me to lose my breathing ability! Which I am so extremely grateful for! Every five months someone lives with ALS they lose 1% of breathing! For me, I have 9%, so it Will take a little longer for me to lose my breathing!

After all that information I would like to tell my progress and what I was like at the beginning of my diagnosis

I got diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, at 73 years old on May 27th of 2024, and since then, I've lost a lot of my strength and my total body percentage!

In the beginning, I was

-3.5% arms

-10% breathing 🫁

-5% head

-0% core and legs since I am a C3 incomplete and a C4-C5- C8- T1-T10 complete Quadriplegic ♿

My entire body strength was 8.5%, which the average body percentage my doctor measures is 200%, so I was already way off the average percentage, but will you believe me when I say that my body strength is only going to continue to dip?

I was already weak and as shriveled as you could get but only to think it could absolutely get worse

On the first month of my diagnosis, I was (June 27th, 2024)

-3.4% arms

-10% breathing 🫁

-5% head

So I lost a bit of my arm but nothing major

At this moment and time, my body strength was 8.4%, so I was still very stable and was only losing my arms at this time, but obviously, that was five months ago, so you could tell I was only going to lose more.

On the second month of my diagnosis, (July 27th, 2024)

-3.3% arms

-10% breathing 🫁

-5% head

So again I didn't lose much

And by this time again, I hadn't lost a significant amount of body strength. The only strength I had lost was another arm percent. My head was looking as strong as it was last month! So my body percentage was resting at 8.3%!

On my third month of diagnosis, I was (August 27th, 2024)

-3.2% arms

-10% breathing 🫁

-4% head

Now this is the month where my body percentage took a huge dip! As in, like very big because a percent of my body percentage going away is huge and drastic! I'm below double digits here, which is not good, and my going lower was also not good! My body percentage was now resting at 7.2%! Which, mind you, is not good!

So this time I had lost much more strength! Taking 1% off my body strength is a lot!

On my fourth month since being diagnosed, I was (September 27th, 2024)

-3.1% arms

-10% breathing 🫁

-4% head

My body strength had almost remained the same, but it only went down a tad bit, which is amazing! Those two months where I'm not losing breathing or losing head are the most blissful months as I can finally relax without my head taking a drastic dip or my breathing

On my fifth month since being diagnosed, I was (October 27th, 2024)

-3.0% arms

-9% breathing 🫁

-4% head

Which was when my breathing had gone down which is very bad!

Since I have minimal breathing ability!

On my Sixth month of progression (November 27th 2024)

-2.9% arms

-9% breathing 🫁

-3% head

But now This leads me to this month.

My progression as of currently (December 27th, 2024)

-2.8% arms

-9% breathing 🫁

- 3% head

Today it's December 27th meaning my ALS wants to act up again and make me lose more strength every month I live with ALS I get this dreading anxiety every appointment that comes up because I know I'm going to get 1% less than I did in those previous months it's always a dreading feeling and It's always so hard to accept the fact I am losing and to see the months of my life being taken off just because I missed a week of my ALS medications which I've sadly come close to! And I've always slightly panicked as I thought it would be another month of my life taken away. It's always scary and hard to accept the fact I am living with ALS, and it's not fun, but I do it, and I am extremely grateful for all the support I receive from my wife, my husband, and friends!

Now with that out of the way…

Many months are not so crucial until you hit another 3 or 5 months! This disease is a (excuse my French) shitty one at best but I won't let that stop me from living my best life! You will not defeat me ALS.

[smalife1234]

TODAY IS CHRISTMAS 🎄!!

Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope y'all are enjoying today ❤️ I would like to express how grateful I am for every last one of y'all! You all have been here since day one! And we've been sharing so much stuff throughout the year that we've been on YouTube and the past 4 months we've been on Tumblr y'all have shown kindness and beyond love and support and we are extremely grateful for that ❤️! Happy holidays, SMA Vlogs 🎄❤️!