something I wanted to share...

[Guest guest]

Hello all,

I just wanted to share something with you all. I was having a pretty bad night

last night. And my kid was laying on my bed with me trying to make me feel

better. We were watching some reality ER tv show. A woman got hurt pretty and

needed abdomen surgery. As they took out half her spleen, the surgeon said to

the intern, " Do you know what this is? " pointing to another organ, and the

surgical intern said " Thats' the pancreas. " The surgeon said " Very good. And

you know steer clear of that because messing with the pancreas is like messing

with a person's soul. "

My son asked me if that was true and I told him yes. And then he asked me to

explain what that meant and I did that too. The fact that I was in HUGE pain

helped him understand more of my illness. But I thought to myself after that

surgeon said that....where is this man and how can I get him to be my doctor!

Geez! A doctor who really gets it! How amazing is that.

Sandy in Ca

[Guest guest]

Hi Sandy,

I think that is a very profound statement and offers a great

chance to talk with other's on both a practical level as well as a

philosophical one about pancreas disease.

However, what jumps at me with this statement is that.....well,

that it scares me in a way, because it is what doctors use to say

about the heart. And by doing so, they diverted attention from it

as far as researching and learning about diseases that were

heart related. What puts a little coldness or skepticism into my

interpretation, is that I fear that the same expression conveys the

same attitude towards the pancreas. That is, steering away

good researchers from learning how to diagnose and treat

pancreas related problems because it is too dangerous and

hopeless.

I also think that putting mysticism into the picture, consciously or

subconsciously, relegates the " victims " of pancreas disease as

" those poor wretches " with a shake of the head and a moment of

respect followed by a walk to a patient that can be treated. (Kinda

like " anchorman syndrome " ....the fake sympathy for the accident

victim then the turn towards the co-host to talk about the

amusing zoo story with perky expressions).

Don't get me wrong....I think that the phrase of this doctor can be

the start of some wonderful dialog....but I also see it as possibly

being the period of the sentence; that it is an organ best to be not

only left alone, but ignored.

laurie

(hope you are feeling better today).

[Guest guest]

Laurie,

I never thought of it in that way. I simply took it as a good sign. I never knew

that the heart was thought of in that way. Now you have the wheels in my mind

turning.

Sandy in Ca

-------------- Original message --------------

Hi Sandy,

However, what jumps at me with this statement is that.....well,

that it scares me in a way, because it is what doctors use to say

about the heart.