throwing it up

About 5 ½ years ago during a routine emergency appendectomy, a hole was discovered in the back of my esophagus. As scary as that sounds – it was a great relief to learn. You see, for 18 months prior to that, I had been vomiting once a week. Despite all the test we were running, no reason for the vomit had been found. Then suddenly – the answer was clear: I had a Hiatal Hernia. However, the fun was just beginning. There are three ways to fix this type of hernia:

1. Surgery
2. Lose weight
3. Stop eating certain foods
   

Guess which two my insurance though were great ideas. Guess which one my insurance (and every insurance I’ve had since) thought would cost too much.

For the last 5 years I’ve been very strict with my diet. I have not tasted citric in 5 years. No orange juice, oranges or orange punch. I don’t have peppermint. I avoid spicy foods, limit my caffeine and have greatly reduced my chocolate intake. I have managed my food intake so well that I had not experienced the vomiting since November 2007. (I have dry heaved since that time but never quite fully experienced the whole vomiting thing since 2007.) On Tuesday night that all changed.

For dinner I had two bowls of Denise’s Chilly and several pieces of Cornbread drowning in butter and honey. I had had Denise’s chilly before so I wasn’t worried. I retired to bed at 11 and was woken at 1.

Let me break here to mention that I’m a forgetful guy. I forget people’s names, addresses and titles. I forget recipes and work assignments. I forget the date every day. I can even forget the fun of vomiting if given over 12 months to not experience it.

So come early Wednesday morning I awoke to a feeling that I was going to throw up. Briefly I struggled with the idea of determining if I was really awake or not. I was and the clock was ticking. So I rushed to the porcelain goddess and began to spill my story to her. You haven’t lived until you’ve had cornbread flying through your nose at a high rate of speed. And no, it wasn’t as good the second time.

For about ten minutes I heaved. I had also forgotten that just because there’s no food in your belly it doesn’t mean you are done. At some point I started noticing blood in my bowl and realized I was now ripping away my stomach lining. Good Times.
Afterwards, as I sat there in the restroom trying to get the energy to go to bed, I was reminded of how lonely vomiting can be. No one cane to my aid. No one asked me if I were ok or if I needed anything or even if they could hold my hair while I upchucked. And, in the twighlight of that new day I suddenly missed my mom. I hope she is doing ok and someone is there for her just as I wished someone had been there for me. I look forward to the time where we are sealed as a family and can be there for each other again.