My first ERCP

[Guest guest]

MY first ERCP,

I have been reading about those who may need an ERCP for the first

time...I laugh now...BUT at the time I was VERY scared of having an

ERCP....The thought of having a tube run down my throat that BIG...Well

I wasn't going to have any part of it..I went to a few GI's too who

wanted to do it ,but I refused...Back in the 90's the GI's near Dayton

,Ohio didn't get into what could happen if I had it done...They kept

telling me it's a great way to find out what is wrong with someone.

Finally after my gallbladder was out, I still had some pain. I found the

nicest GI at Miami Valley Hospital...He talked me into it...It was just

invented the ERCP...

I was loosing weight and looked bad and eating Tagamet like candy...My

breath smelled...

He did the first ERCP... he could not get into my bile duct...So I went

on antibiotics and Losec...for two weeks and he did another ERCP..He was

finally able to get into the duct...I was able to hear from the doctor

while he did the second ERCP...DID YOU SEE THAT? I was 37 now I'm 51..

I had energy for a week felt like my old self...that was the end of

it..He would do a third one..

I've had four and everytime I have one...I feel better..

Hugs, in Ga.

[Guest guest]

I want to add my thoughts to this discussion too as I think Kathy

brought up some really good points: that is, that the risks, while

they are there and are very real, may not outweigh the benefits.

In my experience, my first ERCP was a piece of cake. Mainly

becuase it was only the ERC - that is, the endoscopist only

looked at my biliary tract (which is what the C stands for).

Unfortunately, this didn't do much of anything to make me feel

better on a day to day basis (but it did reduce or eliminate my

biliary colic attacks)...but I had absolutely no complications from

the procedure itself and it went very well I think because I had it

done under general anesthesia (which for me, is the only way I

will do these).

The second ERCP was the whole ball of wax - the biliary and the

pancreas was looked at by the endoscopist and he also used

EUS to take a look. It was this ERCP that found my problem and

attempted to fix it. Unfortunately this procedures did give me a

mild case of acute pancreatitis but I have learned that even mild

cases are nothing to laugh about. However, the difference it

made to my life was enormous. It gave me my life back again. I

still have my day-to-day pain but it is so much more under control

now and I think it is finally becoming more stable - a year and a

half after my last ERCP. No it didn't cure me, nor did it bring me

back to my former level of good health that I enjoyed prior to the

surgery which damaged my pancreas in the first place....but it

solved the acute, I wish I were dead pain, I can't eat, sleep or live

at all anymore lifestyle that I had for the three months prior to the

second ERCP. To me, it was worth it and I didn't dwell on the

" what-ifs " because I knew that doctors stress the negative now

more because of liablility reasons than because they really think

it will happen. I also learned from my surgeon who took care of

me when I was deathly ill that you take one step at a time and if

there are complications that you address them as they occur,

that you don't always turn down a procedure just because it may

cause complications. His famous phrase during this time of my

life was " we will cross that bridge when we come to it " with the

unspoken idea of " IF we come to " . And for the most part he was

right.

Although we are right to weigh the risks and benefits of anything

we do or put into our mouths, the fear of the unknown shouldn't

paralyze us from acting in a way that could improve our life.

Whether it be a diagnostic procedure, a drug, or a treatment

protocol it may not hurt to give something a try. For the most part,

you can stop things if the going gets rough, or you can combat

side-effects or can counter-act complications. While we tend to

focus on the negatives in medicine, there are procedures and

treatments out there that are truly amazing and we are lucky to

have them available to us - to be living in a time when gall

bladder surgery is basically an outpatient operation (when only

60-70 years ago it was a major surgery with a high mortality

rate!), etc. It would be a travesty to deny ourselves the

opportunity to be treated for something when there is a relatively

safe way available - when people of past ages were dreaming of

a " miracle cure " for pancreas problems.

I am not advocating a rush to the endoscopist table....but I am

suggesting that sometimes the fear of the unknown may be

magnifying the risks in the minds of the uninitiated. True it is not

a walk in the park by any means, and yes everytime you mess

with the bliary and pancreatic ductal system things can go

catastrophically wrong.....but even if there is a 20% risk involved

(which is the high end of published statistics for these

procedures) that means that 80 out of 100 patients had an

ERCP with no or very, very minor complications. So the odds are

in your favor for the most part. And you can increase your odds

by going to a very experienced endoscopist at a hospital that is

specially set up to perform these procedures - from the admitting

desk, to the pre-op area, the procedural area, to post-op, to

observation floor, to in-patient wards, to the surgical on-call team

(in case of an emergency) to the Emergency Department (in

case you go home and complications arise). These are all

things that you can check into before you schedule your

procedure and if all of these components are satisfactory (as

well as the endoscopy team itself of course) then you can have a

high degree of confidence - as much as life allows, I would think.

Anyways, just my point of view......

Laurie