Re: RE Whipple procedure and pain management to Angie

[Guest guest]

Angie,

Your questions about having the Whipple surgery in regards to your

pseudocyst have me confused. This procedure will not solve the

problem of your pseudocyst. Actually, the size of your pseudocyst is

so minimal that it will most likely resolve on it's own, and a major

surgery such as the Whipple is far too extensive of a procedure for

this problem, unless you have other problems that you haven't

mentioned. Have you been advised to have the Whipple by a qualified

specialist?

You should find that after you've met with a Pain Management doctor

and been prescribed more suitable analgesics for your pain, that

you'll have a different outlook on any invasive surgery. When you get

on the correct medication to get your pain under functional control,

you should find that any surgery would only be considered as a very

last resort. It's only when the proper treatment with medication has

completely failed to minimize their pain, that people resort to

serious surgeries such as the Whipple.

Unless you've been advised to have this procedure for issues that

haven't been discussed on the MB, IMO, it seems as though you're

putting the cart before the horse. Darvocet isn't a very durable

medication for CP. I'll be curious to see what the PM doctor

recommends for you.

Please share the information you learn from the PM doctor with us when

you get a chance.

With love, hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

Bluffton, SC

South Carolina State Rep.

South Eastern Regional Rep., PAI

http://www.pancassociation.org/anthology#Heidi.html

Note: All comments or advice are from personal experiences or opinion

only,and should not be a substitute for consultation with your medical

professional.

[Guest guest]

Angie,

I just wanted to tell you that there are others that have had a

gastric bypass who also have CP. Maybe talking with someone else

who's had both would be of some help to you. I believe that

Weston has had a gastric bypass. She's one of our active members, but

I haven't seen her post for several weeks, and as far as I can

remember, she's not had to have any pancreas-related surgery.

What I was trying to explain was that with the right pain management,

you may not have the need for surgery at all. The pseudocyst is of a

size that it should resolve on it's own, thus lessening your pain, and

with the right meds, you should be able to function satisfactorarily

again. You have to understand that since CP is a chronic pain

condition, there will be times when the pain is better or worse than

others. But surgery doesn't necessarily bring a stop to all of your

problems. Sometimes the patient sees only temporary relief from even

the most complicated procedures, and every time you have any kind of a

surgical procedure, there is considerable risk involved.

I guess I'm just trying to understand why you say that:

> my only option is surgery <

You should consider aggressive and effective Pain Managment as an

option. If all you've been given for your pain all this time is

Davocet, you haven't even BEGUN to see what effective pain managment

can be like. It can make a world of difference.

> It doesn't seem that my situation will resolve.<

As I said earlier, your pseudocyst should resolve, it just takes a

while. And even they don't cause continual pain, especially when

they're that small. It's the CP that causes your pain, because it's a

chronic disease, and NOTHING is going to completely alter that except

maybe a TP/ICT, and even those don't come with any kind of a

guarantee. You've heard of the successes, but there've been a good

percentage of unsucessful procedures, too, with many complications.

> most of you had the option of other methods such as the ERCP and

stents. I don't.>

I haven't had any ERCP's or stents. There wasn't anything that they

could have done in an ERCP that would have made any difference for my

CP. I have pseudocysts, but no blocked ducts, no SOD, no pancreas

divisim or anything else that an ERCP or stents could have made

better. Idiopathic CP with pseudocysts. Sometimes that's all there

is to it and there's not a whole lot of complicated procedures that

can do anything about it. Effective pain managment is the goal to

return the person to a position where they can function on a daily basis.

> do you wait until it becomes completely debilitating before you do

anything and become diabetic? <

Sometimes there's not anything you CAN do. If a specialist can

determine that a particular procedure is going to eliminate a problem

with ductal blockage, or that a stent would open the ducts to allow

for better flow, or a surgery could repair a damaged portion of the

pancreas, then yes, a person would be influenced to consider those

procedures. But if they can't identify that any of these causes are

there to correct, there's no reason to think, or worry, or consider

about going under the knife.

I don't want you to think that I'm trying to be arguementative with

you Angie, I'm truly not trying to be that way at all. Everyone here

that's known me for any length of time knows that I'm just a

sympathetic, optomistic and caring person, but I hate to see people

overlook other available options in favor of surgery. I'm trying to

encourage you to be optomistic about getting better pain control as

your first priority, before you stress yourself about anything else.

If my first GI had been smart enough to get me into a good pain

managment program it would have made such a tremendous difference in

my circumstances. As it was, I didn't get into pain managment therapy

until after my pancreas burned out, I was diabetic and had a new doctor.

I guess I'm just alarmed that you would start worrying about surgery

right now, when there's really still so many other options available,

pain managment, antioxidant therapy, acupuncture, massage,

chiropractory, and other methods of healing. Go to Mark's library at:

http://www.top5plus5.com/

and read up on some of the other options he has listed there. There's

plenty of time to think about surgery, AFTER a specialist has told you

that surgery is the ONLY THING LEFT to get you out of pain.

Good luck with your appointment, and start your diary today.:-)

With love, hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

Bluffton, SC

South Carolina State Rep.

South Eastern Regional Rep., PAI

http://www.pancassociation.org/anthology#Heidi.html

Note: All comments or advice are from personal experiences or opinion

only,and should not be a substitute for consultation with your medical

professional.