my status

[Guest guest]

Hello all,

It has been a few weeks since I have chimed in. Many of you know that I am

in the process of being worked up for a TP/ICT. Also, you may know, that my

wife had to have kidney surgery and is recovering from that and this has set

back my plans until she is in better shape.

I managed to go most of March without an attack. My pain kept diminishing

over this time. By the first week of April I had NO pain at all. I had an

appointment with the surgical team and they told me that I would be an

excellent candidate because I am in good shape to handle the stress of the

surgery. Also I should have lots of healthy islet cells. They said that I

had managed to not suffer any permanent pancreatic damage; none could be

seen in any of the CT scans. After more than 3 years of attacks, and 15

hospitalizations I am very lucky to not have chronic pancreatitis yet.

Because I got back to down to being pain free the team said they want to

follow me on a monthly basis, and put the surgery on hold. Since I was not

damaged we could do that safely. The thought was that if I managed to go a

couple of years attack free the procedure might be improved in that time so

that when the attacks renewed it would maybe a less risky surgery. But given

my history they were certain I would have another attack, and probably

sooner than later.

They were right. This Sunday out of the blue I felt that familiar pain that

explodes in the RUQ and drills to the back and feels like napalm in the

belly. I went to the ER and my numbers were not that out of wack...lipase

being 250. They treated my pain with several shots of demerol and nausea

with phenergan and put three bags of fluid in me. After several hours the

sent me home. The next day, I woke up and sat down in front of my computer

to read e-mail. I felt a spasm deep in my upper to right center belly.

Shortly thereafter it felt exactly like Karyn's description...like I was

full of gasoline and the gasoline was lit on fire. The pain spread real

quick and I was unable to bend at the waist much or mover well and I knew I

didn't have the endurance to wait 1.5 hours in triage before I got IV pain

medication so I went in via ambulance. I had lipase >1300 this time and was

admitted. I just got out today. While I was in the surgical team dropped by

and said " the surgery is back on right? " and I said yes.

May 7th I have an appointment to set a date.

Love and light,

Bert

-----

Bert Bolin

Idiopathic recurrent pancreatitis

Need to chat? Yahoo Messenger: l10nx, http://l10nx.net/

Info and Support: Pancreatitis Association International:

http://pancassociation.org

may you be free if but for awhile from the pain

---

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[Guest guest]

Dear Bert,

So sorry to hear that you had another episode with pain and needed to

go to the hospital. I put a reminder on my calendar with the date of

your surgery. I am glad that you are able to get the surgery and

will keep you and your wife in my prayers,

Gail West, Indiana

Midwest Regional Representative

[Guest guest]

Bert,

What can I say......I'm glad you're back on line for the TP/ICT, but

so sorry that you were doing so well and then fell back again and

had another attack. What I smart idea about going to the ER by

ambulance! It's too bad that one has to resort to those tactics in

order to get prompt, necessary attention for our pain. Seems you

can't win this race sometimes, yet hopefully the TP/ICT will do

the trick and you will win afterall.

Keep your chin up, and try to stay stabilized between now and

your surgery date. Please let us know as soon as you set the

actual date for the Minnesota surgery. It's long overdue, and I

hate to see you have to go through any more bad episodes

before the big day. Take good care of yourself.

With hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

South Carolina

Southeastern Representative

PAI, Intl.

Note: All advice or comments are personal opinion only, and

should not be substituted for professional medical consultation

>>It has been a few weeks since I have chimed in. Many of you

know that I amin the process of being worked up for a TP/ICT.

I managed to go most of March without an attack. My pain kept

diminishingover this time. By the first week of April I had NO pain

at all. I had an

This Sunday out of the blue I felt that familiar pain that

explodes in the RUQ and drills to the back and feels like napalm

in the belly. I went to the ER and my numbers were not that out of

wack...lipase being 250. After several hours they sent me home.

I knew Ididn't have the endurance to wait 1.5 hours in triage

before I got IV pain medication so I went in via ambulance. I had

lipase >1300 this time and was admitted. I just got out today.

While I was in the surgical team dropped by and said " the

surgery is back on right? " and I said yes.

May 7th I have an appointment to set a date.

Bert