Re: Pancreatitis = DEATH!

[Guest guest]

Dear Anyse,

I just read your post and it has really knocked me over. My son is

the one suffering in my family. He is a young man - just turned 29.

He has been sick since August and that is when his life change

occurred. He could no longer work, so he finally had to shut down

his business. He has two wonderful children, one is 11 and the other

is 6 months old. His wife is a saint. She is a teacher and when

she is at work, he takes care of the baby as long as he can, then he

calls his dad or me to come and help. He coached football and spent

every day working with the children in our town. His pancreatitis is

chronic and he seems to have other problems occur one after another

that stop him from even beginning to think about getting out. His

kidneys stopped functioning for a while, so he had to self cath to be

able to urinate. He became so constipated when he began the pain

meds, he had two huge hemorrhoids and had to have surgery to remove

them, he developed a bleeding disorder and his platelets dropped to a

dangerously low level. If he held his baby too long, all the blood

vessels in his arm and hand burst and he looked like a polka-dot

sunburned person, he got mononucleosis and his spleen enlarged. He

had an appointment to see the doctor in Cincinnati, but they would

not do anything until his spleen and platelets returned to normal,

which should be soon. Today, his doctor called and told him his

liver enzymes are very bad and he has to go in for a ERCP, EUS and to

have his gallbladder removed. We don't know whether to go ahead

here, or go to Cincinnati. He made it up until about three weeks

ago before he finally asked for help with depression and began

talking to us about it. He is taking Prozac now and even with what

happened today, he is in good spirits. His dad had to retire due to

heart trouble and he is working on a video for him, going through old

movies and dubbing them to have a special gift for his dad. He

takes whatever energy he can find and finds joy in his boys and does

things with them, even if it is a short walk, or looking at eggs in a

birds nest. I think he is the strongest person I have ever seen. I

don't know where he gets the strength to see the wonderful things

around him even though he can't live like he did. He is turning his

life into other areas and gives love and joy to others in different

ways. We appreciate every second we have with him and we try to

bring him happiness any way we can also. If there is any small

thing you can focus on, even for brief moments, maybe you will begin

to feel alive again, different than before, but alive and with gifts

to give to others. I am praying for some peace and comfort for you

and as always, I am praying for a cure for this horrid illness. You

will be in my thoughts daily and I have only hopeful thoughts for

you.