....Thank you.

[Guest guest]

Hello again!

What a wonderful message to us all! Thank you.

I am so, so sorry that your pain is bad and it goes without saying

that I'll be hoping and praying that the stent removal gives you

great relief. It is always hard to pretend to feel well, or hide the

pain, when we're with others. I do hope that Thanksgiving still

gives you joy and pleasure. Keep focusing on next week.

I'm really pleased that your depression is lifting; that's worse

than almost anything, I think.

I have a January date, if I wish to take it, for my surgery but I am

still not sure what to do. I don't want to depress you but just

recently my pain has been a lot better. This may be just a temporary

lull before another storm; I have had such lulls before but it is a

long time since I had a few weeks relatively pain-free. I've even

been wondering if I could be going into " burnout " . When I spoke to

my surgeon in October, I had gone through a really bad patch.

It may seem strange but, of course, having less pain makes the

decision harder

than ever. I still have, on the best data available to date, a 40%

risk of developing incurable pancreatic cancer. That's some risk!

But I also know what the risks of a TP are. It is such scarily major

surgery with a high morbidity rate (20%) and still a real mortality

rate (3-5%). I would definitely face the diabetes management in

preference to the cancer risk. I know people who have no problems at

all with this and the one person I know who became brittle diabetic

after TP (she was already diabetic before the operation) has

overcome her problems with the aid of an insulin pump.

However, I'm scared of the operation itself and other life-

threatening complications or secondary surgeries etc. I have an

excellent surgeon who has just delivered to the Pancreatic Society

of Great Britain and Ireland the " Keynote Lecture " at their annual

conference " Pancreatic Surgery 2003 : State of the Art " . His

reputation is outstanding and he has patients referred to him from

all over the country, and beyond, so I don't doubt him at all from

the surgical point of view, but, but, but.......I don't know. He is

leaving the decision entirely to me but he IS willing to do the

operation.

Enough about me and the agonising decision. Here's hoping you have a

good holiday....I can assure you I'll be with you in spirit!

Best wishes to you and all,

Fliss

[Guest guest]

Fliss,

I know that type of surgery is a scary decision. I've been relatively

lucky that I really didn't have much time to dwell on making the

decision as both were required to be done quickly to keep me alive. The

first one, I only had a week before the surgery after i decided to have

it and only had a week to decide if I was willing to risk it (I was 23

and I was told I would be dead in 10 years if I didn't have it - it was

to attempt to repair the pancreatic divisum I had). Unfortunately, I was

already chronic pancreatitis, so the surgery only worked for 5 years.

The second one, my heart bypass, I had to have on an emergency basis as

I had a major heartattack (I was only 29)Surgery was 2 days after I

decided to have it done (definite death over possible death, gee, no

wonder it wasn't too hard to decide to have the surgery). I'm still

waiting to hear from my surgeon on whether or not they are considering a

whipple for me, and this tme, I have lots of time to think about if I

think it's worth it (30% chance of it making this worse). So, I can

understand, finally, how hard it is to make such a major decision with

lots of time to dwell on the possibilities.

Just thought I'd let you know that I an understand some of what you are

going through. Keep us updated on what you decide to do and we'll send

lots of prayers your way.

Kimber

--

Kimber

Vallejo, CA

hominid2@...

Note: All advice given is personal opinion, not equal to that of a licensed

physician or health care professional.

[Guest guest]

Deanna,

unfortunately, I have a genetic blood clotting disorder and that

heartattack and bypass surgery were my introduction to it. The doctors

never tested me for it because that particular disorder was only

discover by doctors about 9 years ago. Now I'm on blood thinners for the

rest of my life.

Kimber

--

Kimber

Vallejo, CA

hominid2@...

Note: All advice given is personal opinion, not equal to that of a licensed

physician or health care professional.