i forgot to add two posts below.. 4 hrs to remove panc/ 4 hrs to process islet cells. also spleen gone and appendix.. doc was adding up hrs and said.. well anyhbow plan on an allday affair.. so if Kathleen was 11 hrs.. HOPING hers was more complex.. (hour wise..) we want her well!!!! no ill will there , just comparing timing. hopefully jerrys will be less time. its supposed to give 1-2 inches more snow. everything was iced cars full of icicles and mushy mess everywhere~! LOL HEY MOMM JERRY WORE YOUR spandex leotards!! he was freezing~!! haha.. hey what ever works!

also forgot to add,the social worker, not only was very nice, but her main deal was to make absolutely sure MENTALLY we were aware that jerry had a high risk of being diabetic and that we were basically trading pain for diabetes. YES we know~! many millions of people live normal lives with diabetes. Chronic pain patients DONT live normal lives. She also explained to us that the first month that a patient is out of surgery you will be on insulin anyhow, until the islet cells realize where they are and start working. kinda recovering from the shock! Just everyone clap their hands and make a wish.. for him to get a speedy recovery and minor diabetes if any!

history and physical.. several doc/interns come in and get over all perspective of your life. medical and how you have been living/dealing with the disease. Then they did bloodwork/EKG and chest xray. all the people were soooo nice.. almost erie.. well he will be on floor 6b and surgery is at 8am on friday morn. we have to be over at 530am. removal of panc alone is going to be 4 hours. then same for processing of islets then they put them back. doc is concerned about swollen colon as long term narcs tend to do that as well! they may also have to remove part of it as well we know spleen is history as is pancreas and appendix. then we took ekg papers back to clinic and met with a social worker who then told us this part was new.. where a floor social worker comes and meets patient to see how they are mentally and physically and demeanor. She too, wanted us to rehash all our ordeals ect. she also told us.. jerry can expect 7-10 days in hospital then if no complications they will move him across the river to a "transitional facility" AKA nursing home LOL. as he will need physical rehab. he may or may not go home on TPN but nursing home stay is depending on how well h edoes too.. it could be up to 30 days she said. She said with someone in as much pain as he is, to plan on it and anytime earlier is a blessing. SCARY!! so he has tomorrow to himself and then thurs noonish/ he starts magnesium citrate and then has a special soap he bathes with that night then again in the morning before surgery. tomorrow we will take a pic w/kathleen. this wireless stuff isnt fun to learn when you have no clue and are soo used to basic AOL on desktop!

okay.. tomorrow is our flight out. on our way! time flies. hopefully it will up there as well!!! nothing drags more than sitting by that bedside. BUT if you dont youll definately be there much longer than planned!

I chatted briefly with Katleen last night, she was sleeping when i called. She told me they are keeping her another two weeks. Its probably for the best so she can be fully recovered and have peace of mind that she can go home well enough to get on with life. I will be praying hard she gets well quick and wont have to spend that much more time there and ALSO that we wont have same ordeal happen. I know that Whipple is such a nasty surgery , and is more complex than just removing the organ. Thank goodness her sister is now up there too.

Saturday... 2 days to go. Tuesday we will be on our way to Minneapolis. BRRR the weather! its colddddddd and snowy. www.wunderground.com/US/MN/Minneapolis.html. Also for views around the areas check out http://www.minnecam.com/. SNOW it said.. snow and rain. brrr and the temps. are in the teens and with wind even lower.

Today is Thanksgiving. HA well.. Kathleen called she told me they maybe letting her go home this next week! (her sister emailed last night told me too LOL ) Kathleens been up and about , EVEN went to the gym!!!! lol walking, exercising. I got up mopped kitchen floor AGAIN, and did laundry. Cats went to bed, its chilly here for florida. winds a blowing so they are snuggled in bed. Kathleen is on floor 7B room 222. If anyone wants to call her to ask questions they can email and ill see if can get her number to you, she told me. 4 days to go for jerry. we leave on tues. then surgery 3rd day there after. well teas brewed and im going to go sit and look at my bathroom try to figure out what I want to do with it, paint wise. LOL

Today Joe called, to update me on Kathleen , which was very nice and thoughtful! the other two gals at work were listening too. Every ones pulling for her. It must be working.. tonite (i hyper extended myknee and had to come home and elevate and use heating pad on it) i got up and had email from her sister again.. Kathleens ahead of schedule!! she was supposed to be in ICU 3 days.. wellllll
from her sister..
Kathleen is now in a room - can you believe that?! She's struggling with the pain and nauseau but they're working on it. Dr. Sutherland is very optimistic and pleased with her progress at this point. She has been alert enough at times to know that Joe is there and she was able to talk a little bit today too. My sister Kim said that her incision is only 5 inches. Amazing!
she will see her herself sunday and will be able to see her first hand. More info to come. Hang in there Kathleen!!!!!!!!!

11 hours!! wow.. just received email from Kathleens sister, Shelly. Kathleen's surgery took 11 hours. She is doing well. will be in ICU 3 days. I hope shes feeling better very soon. we will be up in 11 days.. counting them down!!

I was itching to call Kathleen all day today. It killed me not to call her. So finally at around 730 pm, i did. She was doing pre surgery preps. says we will get a special soap to wash with and a clean out drink. OH the misery of the prep. I feel so bad for her.. i know how bad those are on jerry and shes not feeling well to begin with either. She said the wind up there goes right thru you! NOT eager to experience that. They got the first snow fall. I told Kathleen thats good!! its a positive sign , a new clean white slate to start with. She was impressed with docs /residents said they were super nice and soo attentive and made her feel involved in all the procedures. It really made me feel much better talking to her and hearing how much more calm and collected she was. Im very impressed by her too. I cant imagine what id be doing in her shoes! nor Jerrys for that much. She thinks it will be about three weeks for her. So we will definately be meeting up! she will be there then for jerrys ordeal or dang close as three week to the day is first and jerry goes to surgery on the second. I sure hope this gives her some measure of relief! she said to me that surgery will be in about twelve hours. so 6-7ish? ill be watching that clock!!!

I called Kathleen today, some where around 10:30 ish.. they were then in Iowa. it was cold and the weather nasty she said it was raining with snow. (sleet?) rhymes with sheet detract an accent and endup with Sh_t. Anyhowww she was 2hrs out from being there. Hopefully she wont wake up to snow! but its highly unlikely! CAN YOU TELL WE ARE JEALOUS~ we want this done soon!!!!! two weeks feels like two months now!

Well is it Murpheys law? some ones law.. what can go wrong will! so two weeks ago, has itbeen two? or am in in third? anyhow.. woke up with nasty sinus/chest infection went to walkin.. and got a zpack for it. The doc said it lasts two weeks after in body.. wellllllllll, it says on box.. after first 5 days it works days 6-10. thats TEN days total.. not two weeks after first 5 days. and of course i felt better so i painted my room. Woke up yesterday EW hacking a lung and its green and dangnab it.. i have to go up in that cold!!!! sooooo i do have a diff antibiotic to take but it causes bad intestine upset. but i think i have no choice! i dotn want to be sick up there NOR be so ill when i get home from exhaustion that i cannot take care of jerry. Cross your fingers... im eating three crackers with each dose, hoping that will cut it. Im wondering just where Kathleen is.. did they drive straight thru? did they stop overnight? hows the weather up there?did they get snow like www.wunderground.com shows? yikerssssss wish it were us up there getting this done now!

Well its Nov. 14th, Kathleen is now on her way up to the COLD country LOL. Hopefully her trip will be uneventful and quick! same as her speedy recovery!

Here is a friends addy to her blog.. she too is going thru this mess! She will be up in Minn first. her surgery is Nov. 17th.! we will meet up before she leaves! http://badpancreas.blogspot.com/

This in from another blog.. very interesting. digestive voyage : Pancreas.
http://www.enzymeexperts.com/digestive-voyage/chapter-4-the-pancreas-092105.html

Digestive Voyage - Chapter 4 - The Pancreas



Written by Donna Werner DC
Wednesday, 21 September 2005
When we last left our food—now referred to as chyme—it was just leaving the stomach and entering the first part of the small intestine, the duodenum. As food moves from the stomach to the small intestine, the accessory organs of digestion come heavily into play. These include the pancreas, the gallbladder and the liver. In this issue, we’ll discuss only the pancreas.
The pancreas operates within two systems of the body: the endocrine via its secretion of insulin and glucagon, and the digestive through its secretion of digestive enzymes and bicarbonate. This makes it both an endocrine and an exocrine gland, meaning it releases both hormones into the blood and secretions through ducts to act on other organs and tissues.
Anatomically, the pancreas lies deep in the abdomen behind the stomach. Its head is nestled in the curve of the duodenum (the first part of the small intestine) on the right and its tail abuts the spleen on the left. The main pancreatic duct usually joins the bile duct as it enters the small intestine; in a small percentage of people, the two ducts open separately.
While primarily only protein-digesting enzymes are released in the stomach and we’ve had a small amount of both carbohydrate and fat digestion occur to this point, the pancreas is responsible for producing enzymes that digest all three major food types: proteins, fats and carbohydrates.
It accomplishes this through the production of trypsin and chymotrypsin to digest proteins. An enzyme called carboxypolypeptidase digests the smaller fragments of proteins, which are known as peptides. In addition, pancreatic lipase and pancreatic amylase digest fats and starches, respectively. Other enzymes break down various components of fats, such as phospholipase, which splits fatty acids from phospholipids, and cholesterol esterase, which breaks down cholesterol esters.


((((( this below is where jerry is having problems:: The duct wont let these enzymes out and they activate within the pancreas destroying it. OR maybe part is that he doesnt produce enough trypsin inhibitor- either way only way to stop it is to remove it)))))))



However, in order to avoid digesting itself, the pancreas doesn’t release fully functioning proteolytic enzymes. Instead, it releases inactive precursors to these enzymes that are not activated until they reach the small intestine. This alteration occurs through activation by additional enzymes.
This ensures that the pancreas is safe from harm and that the enzymes go to work on food, as intended. A safeguard, in the form of a substance called trypsin inhibitor, is produced by the pancreas and further prevents the activation of these enzyme precursors until they reach the duodenum.
In addition to digestive enzymes, the pancreas also secretes an alkaline substance made up of bicarbonate and water. This secretion helps to neutralize the acid manufactured in the stomach. By neutralizing the chyme mixture, this alkaline secretion also inactivates any of the proteolytic enzymes that were secreted in the stomach, since enzymes are active within their own specified range of temperature and pH.
By raising the pH in the small intestine, this also allows the pancreatic enzymes to become active, since they are optimally active at a much higher pH than the enzymes secreted in the stomach.
Since not much carbohydrate or fat digestion has been done up until this point, these enzymes can now go to work on those food particles, preparing them for absorption, packaging and shipping off to the parts of the body that need them for fuel and building materials.
Last Updated ( Friday, 07 October 2005 )

Well today is the 7th of November. Kathleen has ten days until her surgery in Minneapolis. Im sure shes feeling the pressure and eager as we are to be over with this ordeal. Lets move on with our lives! I ended up having bronchitis of course wonderful timing as usual! Thank goodness for antibiotics and good ol robitussin ICK!!