Re: new to group - to

[Guest guest]

Dear ,

Thank you so much for sharing your frightening story with us. There's no

question that you have been through it all, and it's so good to see that you've

come out of this and can keep on fighting.

After the Whipple, what other procedure is left for Dr. to do that is

supposed to help you? I thought the Whipple was about as far as one could

go without having a TP. How are you coping with your diabetes?

While I'm sure you have a very thorough database now because of all your

experiences, I do urge you to take a look at our library at:

http://www.top5plus5.com/

This is a pancreatitis webpage that one of our members, Mark Armstrong,

has built over the last few years, and it, too is an excellent source of any

kind

of information and research about pancreatitis and it's related problems.

Mark works regularly to upgrade and update this webpage for the benefit of

all of us with CP, and usually one can find the answer to any question they

may have about the disease somewhere in the confines of that website.

I'm your PAI representative for South Carolina, and live about 4 hours down

the coast from you, near Hilton Head Island. We have quite a few SC

members in the association and nearly all of them have gone to MUSC at one

time or another for their medical care. In fact, I think I'm the only one I

know

of in the group from the state that hasn't yet been up to see Dr's. Cotton,

Hawes, or , but that could change in the not too distant future.

I've got CP with two large pseudocysts, pancreas burnout and type 1 brittle

diabetes. Thus far it's been handled by two different GI's, one in Hilton Head

and another in Savannah, Ga. My problems now are just dealing with the

pseudocysts and the pain that they cause. I had a pretty severe acute CP

attack back in October that caused more enlargement of the cysts and have

had some difficulty getting over this.

When is this next procedure scheduled for you? I got a laugh out of your

statement:

>I think I'm going to let them one last time and if that doesn't work I just

keep

taking the Percocets, Vicodins, Oxy-Contin, Phenegan, Composine, and

Ultrase the rest of my life and just live with it.<

Quite frankly, this seems to be all that most of us can do!

With hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

South Carolina

SC & SE Regional Rep.

PAI, Intl.

Note: All comments or advice are personal opinion only, and should not be

substituted for consultation with a medical professional.