Pancreatitis

Pancreatitis

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I have had two months of the most horrific paid I've ever experienced. I am no weakling, I thought I'd experienced it all. Cancer, pneumonia, asthma, arthritis, on and on. But then one day I experienced pain beyond any boundary imaginable.

I now know this is common, and it's called Pancreatitis.

During the past two months, I've been in four hospitals. Three of them gave up on me. After testing and testing for weeks, finding no way to feed me other than IV, and no cure, they promptly sent me home to die. Since I wasn't quite ready to go yet, at age 38, I kept seeking more and more experienced healthcare providers.

Finally I stumbled across an unorthodox Gastroenterologist who specializes in Pancreatitis. He was the only GI who was unwilling to simply let me die of dehydration. He was bound and determined to keep me alive, even if that meant via feeding tube.

After all other resources were exhausted, he inserted a feeding tube, and my weight started to rebound from a low of 120 lbs. I am now 130, which is still very slight for my height, but is not quite as starvation looking as before.

At this point, Sphincter of Oddi is thought to be the cause of my chronic Pancreatitis, but is not known for sure. In order to confirm or rule out that cause, the gastroenterologist is going to put a larger tube into my digestive tract next Wednesday, August 29, 2007 and then let my abdomen heal for a month while scar tissue builds up. Then he is going to insert a camera into the tube.

I am unable to have a traditional ECRP due to the fact of not having my original anatomy. I have had too many abdominal surgeries and no longer have a normal stomach or intestines. The only way I can have the ERCP is via this method, which is very unorthodox and something my new gastroenterologist is willing to experiment on. He is considered a leader in his field and is open to experimentation.

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pancreatitis

Posted By:

Dax

Posted 3 Years, 3 months, 1 Week, 6 days ago

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