In life with ALS, we find moments of ‘genius’ to keep our minds active
Working on New York Times puzzles is our morning ritual
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My husband, Todd, and I work on New York Times puzzles while we eat breakfast. I sit next to him and feed him bites of his breakfast while I eat, too.
One puzzle we work on is the Spelling Bee, where we earn points by forming words from seven different letters. Some mornings, the puzzle goes quickly. Other mornings, we work at it for a while. If we are far away from achieving “genius” level, we give up and look up the answers.
One recent morning, we were close enough to winning the Spelling Bee that we didn’t want to give up, but we just couldn’t think of any more words. We went on with the rest of our day, came back to it at lunch, and after looking at the puzzle with fresh eyes, found a few more. We were only one point away from reaching the top level. We tried making up words and even entered a few foreign ones, but the game didn’t accept them. We were stumped, but we weren’t going to give up.
A little pocket of normal
Finally, at dinner, Todd suggested “loco.” The word was accepted with the message, “Still a genius! Excellent work.”
“We are geniuses again!” I exclaimed.
“I’m not sure if we’re geniuses if it takes two of us to get there,” Todd said. I laughed. We are far from being geniuses, but we are getting better at the game.
Todd and I had played the free Spelling Bee for years, but the higher “Genius” level was behind a paywall until I purchased a family subscription for Christmas. Now we can access the entire library of games.
Working the puzzles is good mental exercise for us and something we can still do together. ALS has taken many things from Todd physically. He can’t feed himself breakfast anymore, and his world has become much smaller than it once was, especially now that he is homebound. But his mind is still sharp, and the puzzles keep it that way.
They also give us something to focus on that isn’t ALS. Our days are filled with caregiving tasks, equipment, and the practical details that come with managing a progressive disease. Sitting down together with a puzzle gives us a small pocket of normal life. Unless, of course, Todd’s lungs fill up, and we need to interrupt our game for manual assist coughs. But often, we have a few minutes where we don’t think about ventilators or the disease. We’re just focused on trying to find another word.
It’s good for our brains. In a life where so many abilities have been taken away, it feels good to keep exercising the ones that remain. Each time the game flashes that little message telling us we’re “geniuses,” it feels like a small victory.
Note: ALS News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of ALS News Today or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to ALS.
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