Every so often I gain a few more followers to my story, but even I will admit that it isn't an easy story to just jump in to. I like to occasionally post a review of what has led to where we are today. If you know the story-- this is just review.
1996 (18 years old)-- first attack of abdominal pain. Oh, it was bad. (I called one of my good friends the first weekend it happened and told him I wasn't going to be able to go to his graduation party. Ya, that was my sweet husband. Ironic, don't you think?)
1997- gallbladder removed. Ha! That wasn't it.
1998- Hospitalized for first bout of pancreatitis. We did identify the source of the problem (something called "Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction").
1999- A huge surgery (though I didn't realize it at the time) to "bypass" the valve that didn't work.
1999-2004- I was healthy and had absolutely no issues while pregnant with Nen in 2002-2003.
2004- When I was 21 weeks pregnant with Aimee, I met with my ob-gyn for "abdominal pain". They told me it was her feet. In hindsight, I am so thankful no one thought to check my pancreatic enzymes at that time because it would have meant a very different story for Aims.
11/2004- I called and said, "Could this be pancreatitis?". I was admitted and we had absolutely no idea what was in store. I had a obstruction in the surgical area from 1999. This began at 31 weeks, but we waited until we couldn't wait anymore and delivered Aimee at 33 weeks. If there was a complication to be had, I had it-- sepsis, staph infection, kidney stones.
12/2004- I was discharged and back again just a day later. The pancreatitis wouldn't quit.
2005- This year was incredibly hard. Pain, nausea, hospital stays, being dismissed by doctors, TPN, all of it. Josh took the Family Medical Leave Act to help care for the girls and me during this time.
10/2005- had whipple procedure where a third of my pancreas was removed (along with a large portion of my stomach, biliary tree and duodenum)
2005- 2009- Up and down, but overall healthy. No hospital stays. No TPN. I would have "flares" where my pancreas would get angry, but it always calmed down on its own.
2009-2010-- Good health!
2011- Pregnant with Charlie. (Surgeons told me that getting pregnant again would be fine since my issues were mechanical and they were repaired with the whipple.) Great pregnancy until about 32 weeks. Pancreatitis started again. It went away on its own as soon as she delivered!
8/4/2011-7/25/2012-- Best health I have known! It was great!
7/25/2012-- we went out to dinner for our 10th wedding anniversary and I came home sick as a dog.
10/2012- By October, I was willing to admit this bout of pancreatitis was not ending anytime. Was admitted for 10 days. Pancreatitis never cleared, but "Addison's Disease" was diagnosed. (Adrenal glands weren't working.)
11/2012- Tried TPN (IV nutrition and no food by mouth)- didn't work.
3/2013- Had pancreas removed and islet cells transplanted to my liver. The hope was for them to produce enough insulin there. (They didn't.)
4/2013-9/2013-- It felt like a miracle cure!! I was a diabetic from the beginning.
9/2013-7/2014- I had good stretches, but began dealing with deficiencies. Iron deficiency was the big one and began iron infusions.
7/31/2014- Insane amount of pain in the middle of the night led to an ER visit and hospital stay for infection.
The story from here is the same. I have had two additional hospital stays (one in March and one in May). We have identified tons of deficiencies and did a six week run of IV nutrition (before I developed a blood infection). My health is exceptionally poor and no one can pinpoint why. There are theories (see next post), but nothing that stands out as a definite. My days range from "Awful" to "OK". "Awful" means I am not on my feet more than one hour an entire day and that hour is only because I forced myself. Mind-boggling fatigue (with pain and nausea) are the biggest complaints. "OK" means I can function in my home-- be a mom, load the dishwasher, teach the girls, but naps are a requirement, etc. Whenever I "exert" myself at all, it seems to set me back for days.
That's where we are today on a physical level. Emotionally and spiritually, I have learned so much this past year, but that's harder to summarize.
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