Help with Definitions and Expectations

June 12, 2003

Hi,

I've posted here once before regarding my mother under " HELP!! - Mom

Battling Pancreatitis for 3 Months+ " . In summary, my mother has been

suffering from, what I believe is defined as, Severe Acute

Pancreatitis. This ultimately led to some fluid collections and

secondary infections of those collections that required drainage and,

most recently, surgery to 'scrape out' a phlegmon and remove a small

amount of dead pancreas tissue.

When the doctor did the surgery (about a month ago), he stated that

the pancreas was still hard/inflamed and that it would take some time

for that to go away. My mom is still unable to eat any solid food

except for a few bites here and there. She starts to gag when she

has more than a few bites. (Although the docs have her now drinking

enough Ensure Plus drinks to keep her caloric intake acceptable.) She

also tends to gag when she gets up to move around. We're all

confused/concerned about why this happens.

I guess what I'm trying to find out is does my mother have (from what

I have described) Acute Pancreatitis or Chronic Pancreatitis. I

thought Chronic Pancreatitis meant that you would have recurrent

attacks and Acute Pancreatitis meant you would have an attack and

then it would subside. Mom's situation is that she had a severe

attack and is STILL suffering from this.

Also, does the nausea/gagging/loss of appetite mean that her pancreas

is probably still inflamed? If so, will her pancreas ever return to

normal, or do some people's pancreas stay in this constant state of

inflammation forever? Will any medicine help her with her

situation?

Also, should the doctors be doing anything for her at this point to

help her start eating again? Or, is this just one of those

situations where you have to 'wait it out' and hope things will

return back to normal. It seems like we are doing the latter.

Just FYI: My mom isn't in any real pain. She hasn't really had much

pain since the first week of her attack. It just seems that these

fluid collections/infections have taken a toll on her and she has no

energy, can't eat, and gags often.

Thanks,

Tim

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