Re: NEWLY DX CHRONIC PANCREATITIS

[Guest guest]

Hi Tracie,

Just want to say that I too have pancreas divisum, have had

sphincterotomies and stents, but no surgery for it. It is my

understanding that you should think long and hard before you go

the surgical route, even if it is just a sphincteroplasty (nothing is

removed). There are a few other members on this board with PD

that have done both stents and sphincteroplasty or just stents

alone (I am not sure if anyone has had the plasty without stents

first though). Hopefully they will give you information on what they

went through and why they did what they did and who they went

to see.

The expert at Indianapolis is Dr Lehman. He is the endoscopist

/ GI / Stent guru for pancreas problems. He is also connected

with a surgeon there but I do not remember his name off-hand.

Because of the controversies surrounding CP and pancreas

divisum and the treatment options available, I would get more

opinions before deciding on what course of action to take. It is a

hard decision with no one right answer. It is one of the toughest

things to make up your mind about because the risk / benefit

ratio is not so clear cut...... (high risk of making things worse / or

at the least, not better.....and a low benefit of permanently taking

care of the problem). A painful surgery, long recovery, no way to

predict if you will benefit and if so, for how long...that kind of thing.

Laurie