Re: Digest Number 368

[Guest guest]

hi . back in January 1998 i developed 2 pseudocysts which were highly

infected. i was given a 5% chance to live. i stayed in the hospital for 2 1/2

months. during this time i had to wait until the pseudocysts had matured.

surgery brfore this time would have made me worse. they went in to clean by

abdomen from these draining cysts and at that time they did an anasamosis (i

hope i spelled that right) which they cut one hole into my stomachfor one of

the cysts to drain and then they cut another hole into my bowel for the other

to drain. this past January i developed another pseudocyst and this time they

put a drain in on my side attached to a jackson-pratt suction bulb and that

drained the area in my abdomen that had the infected drainage in it. i found

out a week ago i have another pseudocyst and there is some drainage in by

abdomen already. but i feel alot different with this one. i was getting sick

there for about a week and then i started feeling better so hopefully no

trips to the hospital on this one. sorry to go on like this. i hope everyone

is having a painfree day. JIM S

[Guest guest]

hi Shirley, i have had the pain you describe. the intense pain has only

happened tp me when there is a pseudocyst or a phegmon forming. i was told by

my doctor the pancreas is just below the diapram. and when i am having an

attack the phrenic nerve which controls the diaphram will shoot what the call

a refered or a defered pain i forget which one i think it is refered. now

this pain can shoot most anywhere in the thoracic area but for me it was

always the same. it is an acute pain which shoots through my left lung and up

into my collar bone. when the pain gets real bad sometimes the pain will go

down my left arm. when the pain is that bad i go to the hospital. since the

pain is in the chest area i always tell the nurses i am having chest pain,

they will take me back immediately and i do not have to wait. i know the pain

is due to the pancreatitis but the first attack i writhed in pain in the

waiting for 4 hours until they came to get me. now i always say chest pain

and i am taken back immediately and treatment is started that quick. i hope

jang doesn't have a problem with this. for those of us who have pancreatitis

we have an increased chances of developing a.r.d.s. adult respiratory

distress syndrome. when i have these attacks i am like you i can not take in

the deep breath the refered pain that shoots through my lung will keep me

from breathing deep. this last hospitalization the most i could achieve on my

incentive spirometer which is a breathing exerciser was only 250cc. this is

extremely poor. my CT scan was showing atelectasis in both lung bases. which

is kinda like lung collapse from not breathing deep enough. i made sure i at

least tried to breathe deeply. i am currently on disability but i have been a

respiratory therapist for the past 20 years and i have taken care of many

patients with pancreatitis that were on ventilators. believe me that is not

fun. so even if the pain is there try to keep you lungs exercised. If you

take pain medicine deep breathe after the medicine has a chance to work. this

can happen to any of us so please plan ahead and take care of yourselves. Jim

S.