Saturday, December 19, 2009

And the Other Shoe Drops

When I had my last CT scan on December 2, 2009, the radiologist who I saw that day indicated he wanted to do another one early the next week. However, for whatever reason, that did not happen. I did end up getting a lower dosage of my pain meds so I could start tapering off them, and when I went to my GI doctor's office to pick up the prescription, they set up an appointment for Wednesday, December 16, 2009.

When I saw the doctor, he told me my surgery may end up being sooner than later, and it might not just be my gallbladder that is removed. He said that they may have to remove the distal portion of my pancreas. The first thing that came to mind for me was whether or not that meant I would end up needing insulin, but he told me a person only needs part of their pancreas to regulate blood sugar.

He did a really good job of explaining stuff, but I still do not quite understand it all. The remaining pseudocyst is apparently communicating with the duodenum, which is why the drainage out of it has looked bilious. There may also be a blockage contributing to the problem. I know he placed a stent in the pancreatic duct during the last ERCP (an endoscopic procedure). If I understood correctly, it was because the duct was damaged due to the pancreatitis. However, there may be a chance the duct is not sealing up right, and that could also be causing some issues. He did indicate he wanted to do another one, so that has been scheduled for this upcoming week before Christmas (trying to get as much done before the end of the year, because my health insurance deductible and co-insurance start over on January 1). He also mentioned that even though the surgeon did not want to do surgery until the last psuedocyst resolved, he may have to go ahead and do surgery and rig it so it drained through the digestive system.

I have also been having some issues with the insertion point for the remaining drain, so I called the nurse practitioner I have dealing with. She indicated she would call in a prescription for something I could use and that she would leave a new drain bag at reception in radiology. Then she mentioned that the radiologist needed to talk with my GI doctor about something. She said something about how they probably would not schedule any procedures next week, so I told her that I had an ERCP scheduled. She indicated that the radiologist she worked for would need to talk to my GI doctor that afternoon. So, I am not sure what else is going on yet, but apparently something is.

1 comment:

Leslie said...

Well, then? That's so not helpful to you, now is it. Take care of you!

Merry Yule to you and yours.