Former NFL hero Steve Gleason reveals his daily ‘exorcism’ as he battles ALS: Man, 47, goes through ‘barbaric’ morning routine with ‘droppings expelled from his body’… but is inspired by a Vietnamese Buddhist monk

Former NFL star Steve Gleason has opened up about his daily “exorcism” as ALS continues to take its toll on his body.

Ex-Saints safety powerfully details how he seeks inspiration from Vietnamese Buddhist monk during ‘barbaric’ routine, which includes caregivers ‘forcing excrement from his body out into a trash bag’ .

He opens up about his journey in a new book “An Impossible Life, Living with ALS: Finding Peace and Wisdom in a Fragile Existence.” The 47-year-old has spent the past 13 years battling the neurodegenerative disease, which affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.

In his moving memoir, Gleason — whose blocked punt following Hurricane Katrina was immortalized in a statue outside the Superdome — compares his morning “workout” to his NFL pregame routine. with one major difference”: he needs help from caregivers because he can “no longer move, speak or breathe”.

In one heartbreaking scene, her young daughter Gray “moans” in the bathroom, with Gleason unable to help her. He has never kissed his two children and on this day in 2022 he says: “I felt terribly inadequate as a father… I felt guilt and humiliation that overwhelmed me.

Steve Gleason has lifted the lid on his daily ‘exorcism’ as he continues to battle ALS

The former safety enjoyed an eight-year NFL playing career with the New Orleans Saints.

“A Life Impossible, Living with ALS” by Steve Gleason with Jeff Duncan comes out April 30

“I cried, my tears matching Gray’s. As she moaned audibly, my heart groaned silently, deep in my chest,” he said. “I tried to scream from the depths of my pain. Nothing. A second effort. Silence. My emotions had no way out.

Nonetheless, the former NFL star says he “learned to really love my daily ‘exorcism,’ which “usually begins at 6 a.m. with two hours of meditation and mental training, in bed.”

He explains: “During this mental training, I ‘eat’ my breakfast – a syringe of medicine, coffee and a smoothie – through a feeding tube that has been surgically inserted into my stomach.”

Then, after half an hour of stretching, Gleason is given an enema “to encourage bowel movements” and is lifted onto a plastic and aluminum shower chair.

“To start the bowel program, one of them drives his fist into my chest to force the feces out of my body and into a trash bag and bucket placed under the seat,” he explains.

Her day starts with “a syringe of medication, coffee and a smoothie through a feeding tube.”

Gleason, who was diagnosed with ALS in January 2011, with his wife and two children

“Until about a year ago, it was something of a poop war. I would encourage caregivers to push so hard around my large intestine that some of them would initially be afraid of touching my spine and hurting me.

But now “it’s become more of a dance,” with Gleason communicating using eye-tracking technology — “raised eyebrows” for louder, “blinking” for softer, for example.

“The bowel process can sometimes take twenty minutes and is admittedly difficult to see,” he says. “The physical pressure put on my body often makes me wince and drool. But as barbaric as it may seem… I feel reborn afterwards.

Meanwhile, he explains, “a coughing machine draws air deep into my lungs and expels mucus from my nose, mouth and the surgically placed tracheostomy hole in my neck.”

Gleason’s blocked punt following Hurricane Katrina was immortalized in a statue

To shower, Gleason is taken off his ventilator for about 90 seconds.

“I am at my most vulnerable time during the daily shower – naked in every way, physically and emotionally,” he explains. Meanwhile, he faces a photo of Thich Quang Duc, the monk who burned himself alive in 1963 to protest religious persecution.

“I marvel at his ability to remain calm while dying. I find it miraculous,” says Gleason. “Quang Duc inspires and motivates me every morning.

“How trained and powerful is this guy’s mind?” If this monk can be so serene in the midst of flames, can I do the same in my life?

“An Impossible Life, Living with ALS: Finding Peace and Wisdom in a Fragile Existence,” by Steve Gleason with Jeff Duncan, is published by Penguin Random House and will be released April 30.