September 1st Labor Day
Everyone is getting ready to have a late lunch grill out for Labor Day at a family friend's house. Little did we know Jay's pancreas was not going to have that.
Normal crazy morning, trying to get three kiddos out the door, to the store, and off to a picnic. I believe the sitting down to standing up position really gets Jay's pancreas angry. He comes up from downstairs playing his Xbox and immediately the cramping under his bellybutton starts. Not a lot of pain this time but enough to bother our Jay. He is such a trooper. Gets the little garbage, doesn't want to go to the doctor, and still wants to go to the picnic. Away we go to the store. Sitting in the back of the cart with a garbage can. Picture that. He is going strong, wants these kinds of chips, this kind of drink. In the back of my mind, I'm thinking, they said it could have been a virus in July that caused his pancreatitis. Please let it be that, please, please, please. We whiz through that grocery store like race cars. I have put in a call to the pediatric doc on call. Jay looks real pale when we load into the van. Doc calls when we were headed to the picnic location. I describe what Jay is relaying to me about the pain and pain location and I also explain Jay's previous experience(s) with pancreatitis. The doc in turn tells me the location of his pain seems to be more the location of constipation. Keep him hydrated and start the Miralax. Fab. Got it. Started that right away. Almost to picnic, and here comes the puke. You do not puke from being constipated! Needless to say, after dad got done golfing and arrived at destination, I took our little boy home.
We got home, and he napped peacefully. What is going on? Seriously.
The second call to the doctor said we can take him to the ER if things get worse. He seemed to have bounced back pretty quickly so we opted out. The following day, brought an Amylase and Lipase blood draw. Confirmation...
Pancreatitis. Again.
stay strong Nan and Jay, love you all 💕
ReplyDeleteHi Nancy! I stumbled across your blog while searching for literature on pancreatitis. I just wanted to say Hi and to let you know that I totally admire what you are doing for your son! He is very fortunate to have such a supportive mother. I think that keeping a blog about his condition is a great idea, as it may be helpful to other parents in the same situation! My wife has chronic pancreatitis (small duct) and she has told me about her struggles as adolescent with CP—going from doctor to doctor trying to figure out what was wrong (the doctors removed her appendix- which didn’t help!), being misunderstood by her peers and family, missing school, etc. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be as the parent of a child with pancreatitis! Anyway, I want to reassure you and your son that you are not alone! Also, in case you haven’t already done so, I strongly encourage you to contact the National Pancreas Foundation (www.pancreasfoundation.org). They are a great resource for patients and caregivers with pancreatitis. I wish you and JJ the best of luck.
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