Based upon tests, scans and consultations with four gastroenterologists in SF, Berkeley, Oakland, and Stanford, and a consulting rheumatologist, I have idiopathic, possibly autoimmune Chronic Pancreatitis, along with two other autoimmune disorders. 

Chronic pancreatitis is a disease characterized by a painful progressive destruction of the pancreatic gland… For an important part of the patient population the pain is so severe that all a patient’s waking hours are devoted to pain control, and the quality of life is low in every respect. 1

Chronic pancreatitis results from irreversible scarring of the pancreas, resulting from prolonged inflammation. Six major etiologies for chronic pancreatitis have been identified: toxic/ metabolic, idiopathic, genetic, autoimmune, recurrent and severe acute pancreatitis, and obstruction.2

Until the last decade, most CP patients were males with toxic/metabolic CP from chronic alcohol or tobacco usage. 80% would die within a decade of diagnosis from continued abuse. Only with the recent identification of genetic predispositions, the discovery of autoimmune pancreatitis, and with more females being diagnosed, has new research begun on how best to diagnose and treat pancreatitis and what the outcomes are. The most recent information indicates that

  • CP reduces life expectancy by 8 years on average. 3 In part because,
  • CP increases your risk of pancreatic cancer.  The degree of risk is dependent upon the type of CP.  Hereditary factors increase it to a greater extent. 4 (My maternal great grandfather and grandfather both died of pancreatic cancer, related to alcoholism.)

I had hoped that the pain block I had received in November of 2015 had put me in remission.  When my pain returned this spring, my ultrasound revealed an inflamed pancreas.  Last night my youngest son, pointing to acne on my face, asked what it was.  I told him that it was a sore on my skin.  He responded, “does this mean you are going to die soon?”  

I admit that although I’ve taken it in stride in every other way, emotionally, this relapse has been crushing. During the months of December through March, I had grown comfortable living an only slightly modified life. I think somewhere in the hidden caverns of my mind, I had danced a “it’s gone, I’m better” happy dance. I can tell people confidently and without any hesitation about the disease chronic pancreatitis. I can explain that it’s not clear why I have it. I can claim it as mine in front of others. But inside of me, I hold out this deep hope that the real cause of my problem will be discovered and by fixing it, my pancreatitis will disappear. Having chronic pancreatitis for no good reason seems so inexplicable.

If I knew I’d get this disease, I should have drunk enough to deserve it. 🙂

References

  1. http://journals.lww.com/eurojgh/Fulltext/2002/09000/Pain_management_in_chronic_pancreatitis.6.aspx
  2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2886461/
  3. http://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085%2813%2901847-7/abstract
  4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20510834