Re: Bob's Story to Jayne

[Guest guest]

Dear Jayne,

It appears the recent bad attacks that Bob recently had is what

has brought on the pseudocyst. You need to discuss this with

his gastroenterologist and ask what the plan of treatment is for

the psuedocyst, whether they feel it will resolve on it's own, or

whether invasive drainage procedures are needed.

I just had an MRCP myself on Thursday, this is an MRI with

contrast. The purpose of this was to determine whether my

pseudocysts had grown any in the previous month. A month ago

one was 6 x 5 cm. and the other was 3 x 5 cm. These are

considered large and will need to be drained.

Were the doctor's able to tell you any more about what the

procedure is for pseudocysts that are cancerous? Mine have

been tested twice for cancerous tissue, and both times were

benign, so I don't know what the proctocol is if there are

cancerous cells present. Have they talked about removal of the

pseudocyst?

The nerve block is usually done for pain relief. Many people here

have had this procedure, all with varying results. For some it

worked for several months, some for weeks, or some not at all.

Many people have had them done more than one time, as the

blocks do wear off with time. I was considering it myself a few

months ago, but developed type 1 diabetes and have resultedly

lost all pancreatic function, so the celiac block is no longer

necessary.

The Creon enzyme supplements do work well for many and will

help fight against that horrible steatorrhea that many of us have.

Most of us know exactly what you are talking about there, so don't

be embarrassed....I imagine nearly all of us have air fresheners

in our bathrooms, lol! Once Bob has been taking the creon for a

while he should see an improvement in his weight. The

enzymes permit the pancreas to rest and the Creon will do all

the digestive work so more nutrients are absorbed into the

system....this usually results in weight gain, unless Bob is

having severe malabsorption problems like I do. If he doesn't

show improvement with his weight within a couple months they

may want to try some additional medium chain triglyceride

formulas to help him gain.

Please let us know how we can help. The best you can do for

Bob now is help him follow his low fat diet and understand that

his pain and discomfort may make him feel frustrated and

depressed. Please tell him that he is not alone, we have so

many here who share this illness and all its uncertainties, and

we will try to help you, and him, all we can.

With hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

South Carolina

Regional Rep.

PAI, Intl.

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

should not be substituted for professional medical consultation.

> My husband bob is 48, for the past 15 yrs he has numerous

attacks ofPancreatitis then nothing for about 3 yrs and over the

last 6 months he has had about 7 attacks.

>After his last attack we saw a gastroenterloigist at Gloucester

hospital andhe did numerous tests and after a MRI scan came

to the conclusion that he has a very large Cyst in the Pancreas. It

is located in the centre, He alsohas had some blood results

showing that there are cancerous cells present, but the specilist

says nothing to worry about for another 6 -8 weeks

when they will redo the tests.

They have prescribed Creon 1000 which he takes about 5/6 with

each meal andsome morphine based pain killers, tramadol,

He is now very under weight and I think he looks like a walking

skeleton.

all we get is hassle when he is admitted via the A/E route.

The usual thing is well he needs to stop drinking! this really

upsets him as he has never been a drinker.

Sorry to go on but how can I help my husband, I hate to see him

looking soill and he has no energy and desperatly needs to put

weight on.

What do they do about cysts the only thing they have mentioned

is a Nerveblock.

Jayne