Re: TP/ICT to Chrissy

[Guest guest]

Chrissy,

I believe the man you are thinking of is Darren. I saw a post from

his wife not too far back that he made it okay through the surgery.

I believe they didn't get as many islet cells as they would have

liked but it appears he will not become a diabetic.

Just remember if you get bad news to call me and let me know so I

can help you deal with it over the phone. I am sure that the others

you met up with last time might be available for support if you need

it even if by phone.

Or better yet, you can always tell the doc that if he plans on

giving you bad news then he will have to answer to my italian

relatives...(no real link to mafia, but he doesn't have to know

that) *LOL*

You will be fine, and I have your cell number, so I shall check up

on you...

Love

[Guest guest]

Hi Chrissy. I started going back to work this Monday Nov. 8th. I

started out working 1/2 days and yesterday and today I ended up

working full days. Tommorrow I am going to try only working 1/2 the

day. It does take a lot out of me just jumping in so fast. I got

sick of sitting at home by myself. I was getting depressed and my

doctor said I could start work 6 weeks after the day of my TP/ICT.

I know how you feel about being scared and nervous. I was the same

way. There is so many things to think about because you can't

predict the outcome. I did talk to my priest and felt better about

everything. The church also put me in their prayer concerns.

I was in the ICU for 3 days and then moved to a regular room. I did

have a roomate for most of the time. I didn't like having a roomate

but didn't have a choice they told me. The hospital was so over-

packed. They had about 2-3 pancreas transplants per day, every day!

Organs and patients were coming in from all over the place. I

couldn't believe it!

I have been taking emzymes for the last 2 years now. I take

Pancrease. I take the same amount now that I took before my TP/ICT

and don't have any problems. I take 3 with meals and 2 with snacks.

I didn't loose any weight in the hospital at all. Since I have been

home I have lost 12lbs. and that happened in the first week or so. I

have stayed the same weight since even though I have been eating

mostly junk food. (Pizza, candy bars from Halloween, icecream, etc.)

I have been eating the things I could never eat before and it is

great! With all the fat foods I have eaten lately I can't believe I

haven't gained weight. All my bowels work fine also.

So far I check my blood sugars 3-4 times a day. I have been using

the One-Touch Ultra meter and just ordered the One-Touch UltraSmart

meter yesterday. I want a meter with more features on it so I don't

have to write in my logbook. I use the software and download it into

my computer at home.

I didn't go home with any tubes or drains. The only tubes I had was

in my nose and my central line in my neck. My tube in my nose was

taken out as soon as I started having gas. This took 8 days for me.

The night before my surgery I had to scrub my whole body down with

this surgical soap. I also had to do this the morning of my surgery.

I don't remember most of the first week after my surgery. The first

thing I asked when I awoke was how many islet cells did they get.

They told me 105,000 and my wife said my jaw hit the floor! I was in

total shock. It never even entered my mind that I would be diabetic,

not even once. I was that confident. I though that for me having

this surgery after only 2 1/2yrs of chronic pancreatits I would have

tons of islet cells. Dr. Sutherland said I was lucky to even get

that many cells the way my pancreas looked.

I won't lie to you and say this surgery is easy. It is NOT! The

first week was hell. When I awoke the first time I told my wife to

give me a gun so I can shoot myself. I felt that bad. Soon after

they got my pain under control and it was a lot better. I have a

high tolerance for pain meds and need extra to keep it under

control. One nurse told me I was on so much didaudid that the

average person would be dead from the amount I was receiving. My

doctors told me not to worry and use it for any pain. That is what

it is there for. That same nurse told me to cut down and I told my

doctor. He said not to worry, just use it and I never saw her again!

It took me 5 weeks to feel good and get around. I did rest a lot and

I think that helped me alot. That is why I was never posting on this

list! I was in bed 90% of the time. My scar has healed real well. I

used Mederma and that seemed to make the scar get a lot smaller. It

is approx. 11-12 inches long vertically. Right now I am still taking

OxyContin. 30mg. twice a day. When I left the hospital I was on

80mg. 3 times a day. I use 5-10mg.OxyCodone for breakthrough pain

and it works good. I have been using 0.1mg. of Clonidine for my

withwrawls from OxyContin. The withdrawls are aweful but this helps

tremdously. They also put me on Celexa a while ago for depression. I

was depressed because I never felt good and couldn't do anything at

all. I should be off this very soon now that I feel good now!

If I had to go through this all again I would still have the

surgery. It has helped me get my life back. It is so nice not to

have pain 24-7. I was so afraid I would always have pain issues.

Sorry for the long post but I tried to answer your questions

honestly. You will be just fine!!! I'll be thinking of you everyday

and hope the best for you.

Any more questions just ask! (I couldn't read your complete e-mail

address to mail you personally, Sorry!)

Darren