I lived with pain in my pancreas since 1985 but with no attacks. In November 1993, I had surgery for ovarian cancer. I had to go on chemotherapy for six months and then I had a second exploratory surgery. After the second surgery, I was very sick and vomiting. From the second surgery I had chronic Pancreatitis and could not eat anymore. I spent six and one-half years going from doctor to doctor trying to be cured of chronic Pancreatitis. I went to Indiana Medical Center in Indianapolis IN. where I had so many ERCP’s and stints which only made my condition much worse. I traveled to Boston General to the supposedly best surgeon there and he told me that it was all in my head. Therefore, you see I really tried to be cured by so many doctors. I think I saw every doctor in Cincinnati where I live.
I was literally starving to death. The only things I could eat were Jell-O and juice bars. I was in so much pain from the auto digestion, my body trying to exist living off of itself. I had two ports surgically placed in my chest, a PICC line in my arm and was administered TPN some of the time. I had two very serious blood infections at the same time. My temperature went up to 107 and was climbing. My daughter and husband saved my life by packing me in ice from my head to my feet. I was seeing things that were not present in the hospital room. That was a very scary time. I was in the hospital for the blood infections for twenty-three days. I continued to have more and more attacks with no reason that I could find.
One day while searching the other support groups I came across a story from a lady who had written her story to people who had chronic Pancreatitis. As soon as I finished reading her story, I knew that her cure was the answer for me. Right away my husband and I started the process going to have my pancreas removed and my islet cells transferred to my portal vein of my liver. It is so important to have the surgery before all of the islet cells are destroyed. I knew that the Pancreatectomy and islet cell transfer was my only chance to live. I knew that at the rate I was going I would not live long. My body was so broken down from not eating and having attacks. I was so thin and weak.
We called The Fairview University Medical Center and talked with Anne Marie, Dr. Southland’s secretary. It is very necessary to let Anne Marie help in getting approval from one’s insurance company. She has done the work with ins. co. so many times. If you decide to have the surgery only go to Dr. Sutherland and be sure to let Anne Marie help you in getting your ins. co. to approve you. I would never let another doctor do this surgery on me. There are several teaching hospitals just starting to do this surgery but I would never let them touch me since they do not have the expertise that Dr. Sutherland and Dr. Hering have since they have been doing the surgery since 1970. Dr. Sutherland does the surgery and Dr. Hering is in charge of harvesting the islets from the pancreas once it is removed from the body. Once they harvest the islets they then bring them back to you while you are on the operating table and inject them into the portal vein of the liver. This procedure is called Pancreatectomy and AUTO islet cell transfer. Auto is done when one is not diabetic and there are islets left in the pancreas to harvest and transplant into the liver. By using your own islets, one will not have to take rejection drugs. I was not diabetic when I went into surgery so now I am not diabetic even with my pancreas removed since my islets are doing their job for me in my liver. I have never needed to use insulin. I eat what I want and lots of it. I feel that a miracle has happened to me. My whole life has been turned around. It is so wonderful to be able to eat again. I know two patients who have had the Whipple surgery before they had the Pancreatectomy and they have pain. The pain is not Pancreatitis pain but scar tissue pain from the Whipple surgery. I do not have any pain from having my pancreas removed because I did NOT have any surgeries on my pancreas before the Pancreatectomy and islet cell transplant.
In order for the Pancreatectomy and Islet Cell Transplant to be a complete success, in my opinion, one should not have surgeries on their pancreas before the Pancreatectomy. They should also not have Diabetes.