To Tammy

[Guest guest]

Hi Tammy; I'm , just wanted to send you a quick note.

Radiologist screw up all the time. Take the scan results to another

doc and see what he or she thinks. Most doctors will send and

accept appts for second opinions. Call the radiology screening room

at the hospital tell them you want copy of the films, most hosp.

have it computerized now and all they have to do is pull it up and

print it out. I have nver been charged and I had a stack 2 inches

tall to send to a doc, cost $45 to express mail them. There is

probabaly another doc in the hospital that could just bring them up

themselves. Have YOU seen them? You can you know, just ask your

doc. To me, I dont see how they can diagnose something they can not

see; for all you know, it could have been a little gas in your

belly. Maybe even anther MRI (thats what I'd do). Hope your

feeling better today.

Warmly,

> The doctors are pretty sure I have CP. My GI doctor thought they

> missed the pancreas in the MRI. My family doctor said everything

was

> normal with the MRI. I am in severe pain and was in severe pain

when

> the MRI was done. Now I'm beginning to doubt what the GI doctor

said.

> I thought myself maybe something was swollen and obscuring the

> pancreatic duct. By the way, I'm originally from Youngstown, Ohio.

> Tammy

[Guest guest]

Tammy wrote:

<My sister-in-law told her about my dad dying of pancreatic cancer and

brother being hospitalized with acute pancreatitis. When I first heard about

CP, my entire life made sense. I've always been the type who gets bad

stomache aches and would throw up all the time. I've had the pain in my

stomach, like I have now, more than 20 years ago.>

Tammy,

From the sounds of it, I would suspect heriditary pancreatitis, as well. Pappas

will get to the bottom of all of this, I'm sure. And if he doesn't, keep

looking

until you find a specialist that will......you GO girl!

In regard to my SSDI denial, I plan to go before a judge for a hearing. The

attorney's assistant called and we discussed my denial and the discrepancies

in my SSDI review, i.e; the lack of hospitalization records for my October

hospital stay, no records reviewed from my surgeon who saw me during and

after this attack, plus now the addition of another doctor (Pain Management)

and the additional narcotics that prohibit me from driving, much less working.

Although the attorney knew about that hospitalization and the doctors, the

assistant wouldn't comment specifically whether it was their failure or the

SSDI's failure that they weren't reviewed. I didn't really like that too much,

but

it's too late now.

He did say that one thing that's good about the hearing before the judge, is

that we can determine exactly what records the judge sees, and what can be

left out. So naturally, our approach will be to show all the hospitalizations,

doctor's reports of my permanently deteriorating condition, affidavits from my

GI, spouse and a relative about my limitations, and the fact that I'm on such a

high dose of narcotics 24/7 that driving and working just wouldn't be possible.

I don't know how the SSDI could presume that anyone taking this amount of

narcotics would be safe to drive every day, it seems like they totally

overlooked my med page.

My husband got all excited about writing an affidavit about my condition....he

said that for sure, he had a lot to say about what's happened to me these

past four years! Now I'm really curious to see his analysis, in his own words,

of how this has affected us, the family and me. If he's really honest, I may

be

able to find out enough information to help him deal with it better, too. I

think

he's been fantastically supportive and uncomplaining....but you know that

geing a caregiver for someone like us with all these problems must be so

taxing. It's just so much NOT like what we imagined for ourselves and our

marriage at this point in our lives. Everything has changed so much in our

lifestyle and activities, just because of these illnesses of mine, that I know

he

must feel some resentment or sense of loss - he would have to! But he never

complains and is always so attentive to me. He does all the shopping and

errands during the three days a week that he's home, plus now a lot of the

cooking.....running around like an unleashed monkey, that I just know that

deep inside he must have some really strong opinions about this.

Yikes, I didn't mean to vent so much...but Yes, M'am, I am going to get really

aggressive about this hearing. The only problem now is the wait, the

assistant said that it takes at least 6-8 months to get a hearing in South

Carolina. But I guess that will just give us more time to collect really

thorough

evidence of all my problems and limitations.

Thanks for listening. Do let us know how it all goes at Duke on Monday.

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 never be substituted for consultation with a medical

professional.

[Guest guest]

Hi Tammy,

Thanks for your reply. After I sent your e-mail , I felt really dumb,

because I read more of them and then I realized that you are now living in

NC. I have really been behind on my e-mails and trying to get caught up

again. Do you like it there? We go to the Outer Banks, Nags Head Area,

NC each year for Vacation. We made our Reservation, very early this year.

I thinks it was at Christmas time, even before the New Years. We are going

again with our Best Friends, the Week of July 18. I just love it there.

It's so peaceful and relaxing and not congested, like all lot of the

Northern Beach towns. I work in retail. I worked for a Store call Stone &

, for ,18 years. I was a Department Area Manager, an assistant to a

buyer, I worked in Corporate Collections, and ended up in Corporate Accounts

Payable. I guess I was a Jill of All Trades, and a Master of None. The

store I worked for was the largest in WV with 21 different stores in WV, VA,

KY, OH. But they have since gone out of Business. They have sold off many

of the stores to Elder-Beerman, out of Dayton, OH and Closed down all lot of

the others.

They did have a store in Weirton , across the street from the Community

Center in Weirton. I worked in another Store, a Ladies Specialty Store for

3 years. I have worked for A Motel Chain for 7 1/2 years and I really loved

that job. You really met all lot of interesting people being Head Desk

Clerk in a Motel. I even sold Avon while in High School and for the 1 big

semester of my college life. I thought I knew it all, so I quite after a

semester. Boy, was I young and in love then. Well, I guess you can say I'm

Old and in Love now, because I'm still with the same guy. We have been

together for almost 38 years now and will be married for 35 years in

November. I worked for over 30 years and it was hard to give up a job that

I really loved. But I know now with all the pain and some days I can't even

get out of bed.

I really hope that they can get you pain under control. Good luck, when

you see your new Doctor.

They are trying to sell Weirton Steel right now. It's in the news daily.

The Bankruptcy Judge, just today ruled that the retirees could keep their

Health Insurance for only 2 mores week, to give them time to find something

else. I guess the other side, not the retired employees, wanted to Health

Insurance to be ended as of today. I do feel bad for the Steel workers, as

they are having are very hard time of it in this area. I glad that my

Husband, is consider a State Employee, and has very good Insurance and

retirement. He works for the school board, and as tomorrow will have been

there for 30 years.

I hope this finds you having a good day and not in too much pain.

Take Care,

Louie in WV

Re: to Louie

> Hi there Louie. I should have said in the post I'm originally from

> Youngstown (born and lived there for 35 years), but now live in

> Wilmington, N.C.

> I lived in East Liverpool from 1998 until 2000, when I left to come

> back to North Carolina. I worked as a reporter in East Liverpool. I

> lived in Charlotte, N.C., from 1995 until 1998 until I moved back to

> Ohio. Small world, huh. My ex-husband was a truck dispatcher at

> Weirton Steel for a brief time.

> My dad died of pancreatic cancer and I know he loved the clinic and

> felt like they took good care of him. I'm sorry I don't remember any

> of his doctors names.

> I would have thought Pittsburgh was a good place to go, but I guess

> not. I'll remember that if I ever move back up there.

> What kind of work did you do before disability. I may be going down

> that road in the future if I can't get the pain under control. Tammy

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Tammy. Yes unfortunately they can fire me. I looked into it

with the human rights board. And all they can do for me is to make

sure the company is giving me a fair opportunity to re apply. They

can't make them give me back a job. It sucks cause I really enjoyed

the job and it wasn't hospital nursing, so it was much easier on my

body. Thanks for responding. Jen