Re: Concerned Sis: to

[Guest guest]

I have a lot of questions about

> pancreatitis, Does anyone know how many

> years it takes for chronic pancreatitis to go away? What are the

> treatments other than pain medication? My sis already had a

> galbladder removed and the ERCP and neither helped. How

serious does

> this disease get? What can I do to be helpful?

>

,

You are a such a good sister to care enough to post and ask

questions in your efforts to help your sister. I have a sister, and

she has never taken an interest in my illness, aside from a few

initial questions, so I am very conscious and even envious of

those siblings like you that really take the time and extra effort to

learn more about this condition.

" What can I do to be helpful? " That is the number one way to be

helpful, to show your concern and support and try to learn more,

so that your sister will not feel all alone with this disease.

" Does anyone know how many years it takes for chronic

pancreatitis to go away? " It doesn't go away. If one has a

pancretectomy with auto islet transplant and has the pancreas

removed, then chronic pancreatitis " goes away " , yet there still

remains the chance that the patient will develop diabetes.

Otherwise, it is a condition that stays with a person until they die.

" What are the treatments other than pain medication? " There

are many different surgical procedures that can be done to help

allieviate some of the pain, or help the condition to be less

severe, but not everyone can benefit from surgery. Each of us

have different problems and different physical characteristics

with our CP, and a procedure that may help one person may be

totally ineffectual for another. Outside of surgical procedures,

there are other " treatments " that help many sufferer's; like

enzyme supplements, low fat diet regimen, pain pumps,

duragesic patches, celiac blocks, antioxidants, vitamins,

acupuncture, chiropractic sessions, tens units, etc. I am sure I

have forgotten many more, yet others will add to this.

" How serious does this disease get? " That depends totally on

the patient, the amount of damage that has already taken place,

and the degree of competent health care that the person

receives. Here, too, it is a very individualized situation for each

person.

Keep your questions coming. We are here to help you, so you

can help your sister. We'll try our best to answer your questions

the best we can. I am posting two excellent links that you might

wish to go to, to learn even more.

http://www.top5plus5.com/

http://hopkins-gi.org/pages/latin/templates/

Please let us know what else we can do to help.

With hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

South Carolina

hhessgriffeth@...

Southeastern Representative

Pancreatitis Association, Intl.

http://www.pancassociation.org/storieshome.html#Heidi