Mark's Story

[Guest guest]

Mark's Story

I was stationed in the Philippines and did my share of drinking. I don't

think I drank to excess but I did party pretty hard on the weekends. In 1986

I was having some stomach pain and went to sick call. They said I had

gastritis.....I spent a week in the hospital and on my last morning a nurse

came in to take some blood......Who knows what time it was. I kind of woke

up and ask her what she was doing. She said the doctor had asked for some

test. So I told her that I was leaving in a few hours and she said she would

have to see. I was pretty tired and didn't think much of it until she

finished and told me " Well Mr. you have a good day " I said. Hey I am

not Mr. . My last name is Armstrong......She got all flustered and

the guy in the bed next to me said that his name is ...Well that is

how it goes in hospitals sometimes......lol

Anyway.....I didn't have anymore pain and later I would realize that the

pain I was having was from my pancreas...The pain was no where near as bad

as it was going to become. I wish they would have diagnosed me then with

panc. Maybe they could have prevented the problems I have know.

Hindsight...Isn't it wonderful......what you could have done differently.

LOL...

So in Dec on 1987 I went to work on the Flighline as usual. I was having

some pretty good pain, but you tend to rationalize things. I told myself it

was just bad heartburn. I ate tons of Tums. I got off work and was pretty

tired. I went home after work which was about 11 pm. I worked swing shift.

Anyway I woke up the next morning, dying of pain. It was the worst pain that

I could ever imagine. I crawled out of bed and got myself dressed and walked

to a friends house...We both lived off base and I told him that I needed to

go the hospital.....He jumped up and we went to the ER. I told the ER doc

what was going on and he laid me down and examined me. He said he thought

that I had Pancreatitis. Up till then I didn't even know what a pancreas was

let alone what it did. He asked me to drink this liquid which I did and

about 5 mins later I told them that I needed to get sick. They kept telling

me to go ahead. I didn't want to get sick on the floor but they kept telling

me to just get sick.....I proceeded to throw up all over the place.....After

I finished getting sick, The doc tried to put an NG tube down my nose and

into my stomach. Every time he would get so fat< I would start to Retch and

I would yank the tube back up. This guy tried about 10 times or so and I

wouldn't let him. It was the worst feeling. They then decided to give me

some pain meds. I was hurting so damn bad......I remember asking the Nurse

how long the pain meds were going to take and he said about 1/2 and hour. He

told me later when I spoke to him that he told me that so I wouldn't be

waiting for the drugs to hit me.....I began to fade and was told later that

they tried repeatedly to put this NG tube in but I wouldn't allow it. I was

throwing people all over the place to get this tube back out of me. I do not

recall any of that, but I am a big guy. 6 feet 4 and 200 pounds then.

The next thing I remember is waking up in a room. I remember them telling me

that I couldn't drink anything. I was so thirsty.....I got up out of bed and

walked to the drinking fountain and rinsed my mouth repeatedly......I then

stumbled back to bed...The next thing I know...I wake up in ICU with tubes

coming out of me all over. I would fade in and out and remember them pumping

into me some anti acid stuff into one of my tubes.. They would later become

my drainage tubes.....when they would pump it in it would come immediately

out thru my NG tube. I am unsure how long I was in ICU and really had no

idea what they had done to me.

They then moved me to the 5th floor of the hospital and the doc would come

in and everyday back out the drainage tubes about 1/4 of an inch so that it

would heal behind itself...Time passed, They got out the drainage tubes but

I was not getting any better.....I was in Limbo for about 7 months.....They

then decided to operate again...I woke up with the drainage tubes in me

again but this time they didn't remove them. Everyday I would drain about 1

cup out of each side and when I asked what the stuff was, the doc were

evasive.

Finally in NOV 88 I forced myself out of bed and walked to the elevator and

down to a Phone where I could call my mom...She had no idea. She knew I was

sick from the Red Cross, but she figured, no news is good news. I told her

that she needed to get me out of there and that I would die if she didn't.

Three days later I was in Texas. She had called our Senator and he pulled

some strings. When I got to Texas, I weighed 140 pounds. I couldn't hardly

move. I really thought that I was going to die. The doc's there however

filled me full of confidence. They operated on my in Dec and I woke up out

of the operation without drainage tubes...Three days later, I got up and

walked to the door.....It was hard but I felt so much better and was getting

stronger everyday. At the time I still didn't know all that they had done to

me. It wasn't until I looked at my Medical records that I found out that I

had pysuedo cyst the size of a 2 liter bottle that they removed on the three

surgeries.

After another couple of weeks they sent me home to Oregon for 2 months. I

became stronger and stronger. When I went back to Texas they asked me if I

wanted to stay in the military. I told them I did and they sent me back to

the Philippines. I would still get pain but nothing like I felt before..I

stayed in the Philippines for another year and 1/2 until I got orders to

Grand Forks, North Dakota.

I was there about 6 months when I started having symptoms of Diabetes. Of

course I didn't know this. I would again rationalize ( which now I try not

to ever do). I was peeing all the time I rationalize because I was drinking

lots of water because I was trying to exercise. My pancreas began to hurt

again. I went to the ER and told them that I had pancreatitis in the past

and they admitted me right away.....The doc asked why I was still in the

military. I told him, the powers that be asked me what I wanted to do and I

said I wanted to stay in. He said he didn't think that was a good idea and

proceeded to Board me out of the military.

During that time I met my soon to be wife and I moved to California. My pain

was worse than ever and the military didn't do anything to help me so I went

to the VA. I couldn't handle the pain and went to one of the VA hospitals. I

actually had a PA tell me that I didn't have pancreatitis. I asked her how

she knew that. She told me that I didn't have elevated enzymes, which later

after years of study I found to be normal for me since I didn't have enough

pancreas left to create them. Needless to say they did nothing for me. My

wife and I moved to my home town of Bend, Oregon where I continued to have

problems. I applied for my VA benefits and went and tried to find a job. I

ended up going to work for the United States Postal Service. I worked for

them for about six months delivering mail sometimes bent over in pain. I

went to the ER after many days of being in pain and the doc at the ER called

the post office to inform them that I would not be coming to work......The

post office let me go the next day. I was pissed but it was a blessing in

disguise. I sent the letter that they sent me which basically stated that if

I couldn't be there, they couldn't use me.....I had only missed that one

day. Anyway. The VA made me unemployable right then. I now get a VA pension.

It still didn't fix my pancreas problem and I went thru many doctors and

many hard times. I tried everything. I finally found a physical therapist

that said she could help. I have been seeing her for about 6 years now and

it is the only thing that I have found that really helps me. It is really

amazing. About 2 years ago I found this group and have tried to be as active

in it as possible. It has been a godsend. If I can ever help any or you in

any way. Please let me know. I have left our so many details but it would be

a book by time I finished. If anyone has any questions feel free to write

me. Also, if anyone would like to add their story to the Top5plus5 site.

Just send your story to me and I will make up a page for you and place your

story there.

I hope this finds you and yours well

Mark E. Armstrong

www.top5plus5.com

casca@...

NOW

> Mark--How long have you been a CP sufferer?

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> Change your mail delivery status not your membership status!!

> send an e-mail to:KarynWms@...

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> To change your mail delivery status, send an email to:KarynWms@...

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