Sealiac Life Podcast
Thus we begin! My journey has started to help those who are being negatively affected by food and more specifically the ingredients in food.
First I must explain why I want to do this. When I was about 11 months old I experienced a weight decline of nearly 9lbs. I was sick!!! 16 days in 3 different hospitals and I was released with the diagnosis of Celiac Disease. They thought there was a chance that it may be Osteoporosis, but hey hey, Celiac it was! Seems pretty simple right, wrong! It was relayed to my parents that after a while (years) the symptoms from Celiac may become dormant/go away. Their due diligence was commended. I spent 6 years living gluten free. On top of that each year I would go back to the hospital and get tested to confirm what the already confirmed. I had Celiac. On my last visit the doctors threw out the word “Dormant” and that’s all my parents needed to hear to think that I was Celiac free. No more doctor visits, no more yearly stuffed animals for spending a day in a hospital getting tested for hours on end.
Instead, it was years of twinky’s, ding-dongs, trisquits and gold fish. Micky D’s, B-K, Subway and more. The mountain Dew, oooohhhh the Mountain Dew. Peanut butter and jelly was my jam, hot dog Tuesday was particularly memorable for the warm bun wrapped in tin foil. Bring on high school cafeteria, life on the road as a hockey player. Not one memory of gluten free. High school, college and career, beer was a big one! It was the heydays of Budweiser and Miller Light. Natty Light was the choice in college. Hell, I worked for Boston Beer Company for a quick minute after I got out of school. The memories are horrifying now when I think back to the beer I consumed in high school and college. Fire engine red skin break outs at lunch meetings at Sam Adams was a “favorite”. My young adult life was pretty consistent. As I have learned I was living in a “state of low grade irratation”. Quietly poisoning myself with Gluten on a daily basis and living with negative symptoms that I came accept to as feeling “normal”. My feeling like shit was my normal! Then came 2008. I was at a very interesting time in my life with my wife and family. I decided a marathon was a bucket list event I was ready to conquer. The training was grueling, so many, many miles. After a night of pasta with a friends family I awoke for the challenge. I am a competitor and I like to win. Little did I know that attitude is not a good one for a first time marathoner. As in many instances I was niave about the situation. The start was amazing, the pitter patter of the feet, traversing the dark morning streets of Detroit and over the bridge into Canada. Back to the States through the tunnel, I was going on at a nice pace.
Mid-race I was surprised when being passed by a few racers and grew confused. That’s when I saw a sign with 2 arrows - half marathon to the left, full marathon to the right. That’s how naive I was, I didn’t even know there was a half marathon within the damn marathon! I hauled ass the rest of the way. When it was all said and done I crossed the line in 3:16:35 gun time 3:16:03 chip time. I wrapped myself in a silver blanket and tried not to lose my physical shit while waiting for my wife and kids. I can’t describe it as a pain but I think its more like “this is how I feel and I hope I feel better REALL REALLY REALLY SOON”. We drove home and my life resumed without running. I needed a break from the experience and my wife and I were starting a business and raising our kids. Then the problems started!
The worst part was the visible skin rash. I “wrote off” the rash on my upper legs as a by product of wearing a hockey garter belt my entire youth life. The view back from the mirror when I looked was not a healthy person. I was underweight and had the facial acne and I could not understand where it was coming from. I had people comment on my “losing weight” and question “was I sick” My hair was exiting stage door left and there were days I had to stay home from work due to facial acne. I was a mess!
My natural instinct was to try to figure out what the hell was going on. I knew I was told I had Celiac as a child but didn’t remember any side effects because my life was full of side effects. And I be damned if after a reminder from my Mother-in-law about the celiac she heard I had as a kid came up. Problem solved! Thank you MIMI!! It was pretty much overnight, the symptoms subsided one by one in time. After being cleared by the university of Michigan with no small intestine damage I was a free! Free to proceed through life traversing the challenges of having to be gluten free. Traversing a gluten free life being poisoned and being able to recognize it. Traversing to an age of 49 to ultimately learn that Celiac disease is one of the best things that has happened to me!
28 years of being poisoned vs 22 years of living Gluten Free. That’s why I am here! I have the experience! I have what I hear them say on ESPN all the time “that guy/girl has the receipts” to back-up their game and or performance. The “Cred” if you will. I have determined that I have the “receipts” necessary to help.
Today the kids are out of the house and we are transitioning. Life changes a lot and it’s time to pivot. I look forward to helping anybody and everybody who chooses to listen to my life experiences and follow along as I study the disease that is Celiac. My podcast starts with Celiac and grows from there. My deep dive into Celiac disease has opened my eyes to many other oddities I am ready to chat about. Time to get to work!
Cheers,
Jack
Jack’s Life by AGE
0-1 Poisoned
1-7 Gluten Free
8-33 Poisoned
34-49 Gluten Free
49- Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily Life is Gluten Free