Henry

[Guest guest]

Dear Diane,

Thank's for the welcome back! :-) I've been wondering how you've been

lately. Did you get the Christmas e-card? I appreciate the card that you

mailed. That was verry thoughtful and brightened my day. I filled out the

poll that you sent to me and sent it back to you. Did you recieve it? I'm

sorry that you had to be in the hospital again this fall. How long was this

stay? How is your epidural pain pump working? I looked into this option and

they said that I was a poor candidate for this because of my diabetetes and

the risk of infection though they didn't say it was an impossibility. I

don't like having to take anymore meds than I have to, but have to have some

form of help for the chronic pain. Do you feel that your pump has any

bearing on keeping you out of the E.R./hospital, or is it just a maintance

dosage to keep control of your chronic pain vs. an attack. Is there anyway

that you can control the amount, turn off/on the pump. I saw a piece on

Discovery health about a man with some type of epidural pain control devise

that he could control it with a remote control and adjust according to his

pain level, but this was for a chronic pain in his back. I think he had some

type of accident.

Yes, I do miss the " Pancreatitis Partners " group. But it's nice that we

both became friends via the group. Do you ever hear from Penelope Chase, the

nice R.N. who first gave me your address? I still hear from Debbie, and Don

Barbeau. A few months ago I ran into Arthur Brown in Dr. waiting room.

don has been having a bad year unfortunately, but both Debbie and Arthur are

holding up better which is nice to know. Don has a letter from Dr. Hawes at

MUSC introducing him and testifying to the fact that he is a C.P. patient

and has attacks without elevated enzyme levels. This saves him some grief

and pain when he has to go to the E.R.

I hope that you have had a pleasant Christmas without too much pain and

discomfort. I am doing some better than the last time we corresponded which

is a blessing was in MUSC the week before Christmas and came out in time to

be with family, just not eat. I'm still gaining strength and doing the g/j

tube feedings 24/7, so eating is not a problem. I have also learned from Don

B. that you can help your nausea/vomiting troubles by unhooking and letting

the tube drain your stomach/small bowel contents, usually a lot of bile.

Well, it's good to be back here at PAI. And it's been so nice to have

renewed old friendships and meeting new ones. It's also nice to be back in

touch with yøu my friend.

Your Pancrease Pal,

Henry

> I'm so glad to see you back online and in the group. I know it must

> have been very hard to not have the " Pancreatitis Partner's " group

> anymore. I still have not found any kind of support group here in

> Nashville. There used to be one at Vanderbilt, but it's been gone for

> a few years now. Too bad I don't have the energy to get one going

> myself, I really think we could use it. There's got to be others in

> this area who have chronic pancreatitis, but I wouldn't know how to

> find them. But at least we have this group, huh? I really want to get

> to the symposium next year and get some faces to the names.

>

> So Glad You're Back,

>

> Diane H

> TN State Rep

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hello My Friend,

I'm so glad you're back. I was really getting concerned when I didn't

hear from you for so long. I apologize if my phone calls were a

problem, but I was trying to find out how you were. I did receive the

e-card and the poll. Thanks so much.

I was in the hospital in Sept for only 7 days, but then went home on

PCA morphine for 40 more days. My pump didn't go empty this time, but

the recovery still took quite awhile. My PCP has learned not to try

to push things too fast, or I have to go back to the hospital much

too soon. The pump is basically maintainance--to replace OxyContin--

with no control on my part. That's the one thing I miss compared to

the PCA. I have been needing breakthru meds every day for the last

few weeks. Maybe I can get the doc to turn up the rate some more.

I do get an occasional email from Penelope, but that's about all. My

Christmas went okay, but I was exhausted afterwards. I slept until 2

pm on the day after!!

So since you have both tubes, do you get to eat at all? Do the tubes

make a difference in the nausea and vomiting? Do you stil take oral

enzymes even when you don't eat? I can't imagine not eating at all. I

remember when I was on TPN and that GI doc made me do NPO for 3 weeks

to prove that I really had pancreatitis. It was AWFUL!!!!

Have A Blessed New Year!!

Be Blessed,

Diane H

TN State Rep

[Guest guest]

Henry,

I hope you are doing well tonight. I see where you've attempted to post a

couple times, but no message came through, so I hope you aren't having

computer troubles.

In answer to your earlier questions, no, I haven't had any surgery related to

my pancreatitis. I have all my original parts, except for an artificial knee

and

my tubes were cut in '75. My gallbladder is abnormally small, but healthy and

clear.

You asked about the wedding, we are still hoping for a date of September

5th, but found out that we can't have it at Grace Episcopal as we'd wished

because the priest and all his staff are going on retreat that weekend and the

church will be closed. My daughter and her fiance are looking at alternate

sites, they spent the whole weekend checking for another location. We are

sort of at a standstill with the planning until this can be confirmed.

As I said, I hope you're okay.. You've been pretty silent this week, and I only

hope that means that you've been busy, but not having any problems. How is

it going now that you have been able to upgrade your diet? Let us know

when you can.

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 professional medical consultation.