The Tick

Well, my happy go lucky weekend of feeling relatively healthy came to a screeching halt yesterday when the pain returned and I had an equally excruciating talk with Dr. S. when I went in for blood work.

“Okay, so is there a chance that I won’t have to have this surgery… couldn’t my body just do something else with the dead tissue and infectious fluid running around inside it?”

“No. The chances are slim that you won’t have the surgery. We’ve all looked at your CT scan and agree that this will result in surgical intervention.”

“Okay, but why are you waiting? Why wait until I get sicker?”

“Because there’s nothing to do right now… it’s Pancreatic Cystitis. We have to wait for the cyst to form.”

“What if it doesn’t?”

“It will.”

“But I read on Merck that Pancreatic cystitis and the subsequent surgery has a high mortality rate.”

“It does. But so does acute Pancreatitis. Out of 6 mortality factors, you had 5. I didn’t even run the exact percentages when we put you in ICU, because I didn’t want to know, and I doubt that you did either. You almost died. I’m not going to tell you that you’re out of the woods yet at this point, but you did survive that and you can make it through this. It’s just going to be touch and go.”

I think doctors should never be allowed to use phrases like “not out of the woods yet” and “touch and go.”

http://referral.kumed.com/PhysicianProfile.asp?drlink='417'

So I am seeing this guy on Friday morning. If you think of any questions I shouldn’t forget to ask him, put them in my comments. I am carrying all my recent CT scans and tests to him that day for the consultation. He’s the one that’ll presumably do the surgery.

And if you’re interested in the mortality factors that I had, here they are:
http://my.webmd.com/hw/health_guide_atoz/uf4363.asp?navbar=uf4338

The only one of them I did not have was the Central nervous system stuff. Although I was pretty messed up on morphine.

So that’s my story. Today’s CT scan showed lots and lots more fluid building up. I feel like a tick about to pop. I look huge. It’s getting to where I can’t really keep food down, and if the pain goes much further I am supposed to go back to LMH to get put on a drip.
Becky’s staying with me tonight in case I need to go to the ER. I am taking lots of hydrocodone and hoping for reprieve, soon!!!