February 14, 2023

Jerry Loses His Dad Bod: Week 5


What a week. Poor Jerry. (That face is saying how crappy he feels right now--he thinks he's getting a cold.)

A few years ago, Jerry was having issues with throwing up frequently--from five days a week to twice a day. There was nothing that really seemed to trigger if and when it would happen. He saw a few doctors about it and even had an endoscopy, but nobody could figure out what it was.

Thankfully, it gradually happened less and less frequently until we realized that he couldn't remember the last time he'd thrown up. It just stopped after that, and life went on as normal. (I think it had been happening for about nine? months.)

Warning: TMI about vomit. And out of nowhere, Jerry started throwing up again about a week ago. After reading more and more about it, we learned that he's not actually vomiting; it's technically regurgitation. It sits in the bottom of his esophagus until it's forcefully expelled, usually about 1-4 hours after eating. When regurgitating food from the esophagus, it hasn't entered the stomach yet, so there is no stomach acid. Essentially, whatever you swallowed comes back up looking and tasting the same as when you swallowed it. The doctors thought it was probably due to GERD (a common "answer"), but he doesn't have the usual GERD symptoms and the GERD medication didn't help.  End TMI.

I felt bad for Jerry all week because he just didn't want to eat--when you throw up so frequently, it naturally becomes something you want to avoid at all costs. We never got answers and when it stopped happening, we just forgot about it. But it's looking like we may need to seek answers again.

After hours and hours of googling, we have never been able to find a condition that matches his symptoms. It's frustrating, especially when the doctors can't give you answers. I remember the toll I felt emotionally when I was trying to get answers for my chronic pain and I felt like nobody believed me.

Anyway, Jerry didn't want to skip his weigh-in today, even though his week wasn't ideal, so I'll let him share in his words about the week.

[I assumed Jerry would write about all this that I just wrote! After I wrote my intro, I read his words (below) and he doesn't even mention it--he said he doesn't know what to say about it--but he doesn't mind talking or writing about it. So I'm leaving my intro as it was, but it's worth mentioning that Jerry left it out of what he had to say about the week not because he doesn't want people to know, but because what is there to say? We didn't do his body fat and waist measurements today--just forgot!]

Here's Jerry...



Well, 190.8. Can't be that disappointed. After all, a loss is a loss.

Down from 191.2 last week.

I would love to say that I was seven for seven in good days this week but that was simply not the case. Although I had a loss, I had one bad day. However, that day wasn't really all that bad. I had decided to stay home for the Super Bowl this year and watch it with the kids.

Katie made that "cheeze" dip again from the night before, for the kids and I to enjoy. And I decided to make some chili for dinner. Chili seems like a big game staple so I wanted to make it really good this year. I made some tofu crumbles and added them to a chili recipe I found online.

I had wanted to double it so I could have some leftovers. But, I think I doubled the recipe for the spices and tomatoes and quadrupled the bean content. I think I added seven cans total of three different kinds of beans. 

Needless to say... I'm a little bound up at the moment.

The fiber intake had to be through the roof and I just keep chugging water to try to get it through my system. I can't help but love beans. I've always loved beans, even when I was a kid. I'm always reminded of a little ditty I heard when I was a kid:

"Beans! Beans! The musical fruit;
The more you eat, the more you toot;
The more you toot, the better you feel;
So lift your leg and let 'em squeal!"

It's super catchy, I know. I hope that you remember this song and pass it on to the little ones.

Anyways, plans for this week include eating normally and maybe cut down on the beans a little. The kids and I are going to local pro wrestling show tomorrow and on Saturday we are continuing our tradition of seeing comic book movies together with the release of 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania'. I'm super excited for this movie as it starts off the MCU's Phase 5 and will give Kang the Conqueror a more central role as the new super bad for the upcoming series of movies. Sorry, nerd moment.



I have to say, I'm really impressed that Jerry has stuck with this for five weeks. His progress has been very slow, but also very steady. I got more serious this week with adjusting my habits, and I think that helped both of us. I'm hoping it pays off for me on the scale tomorrow, but even if it doesn't, I feel much better after a great week!

10 comments:

  1. for Jerry's vomiting - consider asking a physician to look into Barrett's esophagus. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/barretts-esophagus/symptoms-causes/syc-20352841 My husband had frequent vomiting like you describe but no "classic" GERD symptoms at all. He had an outpatient endoscopic procedure where they "broke" the constriction in his esophagus and no further issues.

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  2. My daughter had months of nausea or throwing up when she was at school and the doctors also couldn't find anything physically wrong and eventually it stopped. It still happens on occasion, but very rarely, and we've managed to work out now that it happens when she's anxious about something. If she's starting a new job, got to drive a long way somewhere new, going on holiday, that kind of thing, it happens again. Is there any chance Jerry has something similar going on?

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    Replies
    1. Oh yeah, same with my daughter. These episodes happened for years. She has a lot of mental health issues. She saw a pediatric gastroenterologist, he did a couple of endoscopies, prescribed an acid reducer and anti-nausea pills as needed. Never really got to a root physical cause, but she seems to have been doing better lately.

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  3. Eeek I also can't wait for Ant-Man!! I have high hopes! Ugh I'm sorry you feel so sickly Jerry :( Throwing up is the absolute worst. I hope you can find some answers this time!

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  4. Long-time physician reader here and I have to say- if Jerry's vomiting keeps up, don't sit back and internet diagnose it yourself. You live in the Detroit area with world-class gastrointestinal research centers and you have to approach this with the attitude of advocating for Jerry with physicians, not googling for hours and getting frustrated that you didn't match a diagnosis. I know how easy it is to succumb to past feelings, but that's not going to help Jerry. (hugs!!!!)

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  5. Hiatal Hernia? This can be the cause of GERD or Barrett's Esophagus. Believe it or not, though super common they can be difficult to diagnose at times.

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  6. I'll echo the "stop googling and go to a REAL DOCTOR" sentiment. Bummer he's having a tough time.

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  7. Could it be EOE? My FIL, SIL and nephew all have that- certian foods trigger the esophagus and they can't swallow properly. For my FIL and SIL its mainly eggs - anything containing eggs (even like salad dressing), and for my nephew it is a much longer list of things. I've seen them all have reactions and its not fun but sounds similar to what Jerry is experiencing.

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  8. I feel terrible for Jerry and I don't understand why you are trying to diagnose him yourself, given that you have no medical training. Please, Jerry, go see a gastroenterologist asap!

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    Replies
    1. I never said that we weren't going to see another doctor. This has only been going on for a week and a half, and it takes months to get an appointment with a specialist. In the meantime, we both wanted to find some possible ideas that we could ask about--none of the other doctors could diagnose what was wrong.

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