Steve....a crazy pancreatic journey...and more

"...This journey has been rough. It was so unexpected, and our lives just came to a screeching halt at 1:07am on Nov.1st (also Daniel’s 13th birthday). I feel so blessed to have been able to drop almost everything to be by Steve’s side in the hospital. We never thought it would last so long or be so scary, but it was both. He was diagnosed with pancreatitis on Nov 1st in ER. They told us to expect a “few days” in the hospital. The treatment was no food or drink by mouth and pain management. We got sent home Friday, Nov 6th. On Tuesday, Nov. 10th (Patrick’s birthday), we went to our normal doctor for a follow-up. Steve was still very very sick. He took blood and gave us some more medicine and sent us home. The next day at noon, when the doctor received the results of the blood test, he called us and said to drop everything and go straight to ER. There was something very wrong. After 5 hours in ER (not the same hospital he was the week before), they admitted Steve because his pancreas had ruptured. There was approximately a quart of enzymatic fluid in his abdominal cavity. The next morning the GI doc did an ERCP and inserted a stent into Steve’s pancreas. At that point we were told to wait for the body to surround the fluid with tissue (then they call it a pseudo cyst), at which point they would puncture the sac and drain the fluid. They expected about a 2 week wait. Well, Steve didn’t make it 2 weeks. The fluid became infected and he ran high fevers and was quite sick. They discovered necrosis of the pancreas (50% of his pancreas was dead) on Nov. 22nd. On Nov 23rd they transferred him to another hospital…this one in Provo (the hospital where I was born). On Nov 25th the doctor went in and attempted to drain the cyst and inserted 2 stents into Steve’s stomach. Even though he got quite a bit of yucky stuff out, the very next day (Thanksgiving), Steve started to run a fever again. The doctor went in AGAIN on the following Wednesday and repeated the procedure. After that, they were hoping to get him better and send him home. 2 days before he was supposed to go home, he developed a blood clot in his right calf. They kept him there until December 8th. I spent every night with him in the hospital. 34 nights. The recliner was very uncomfortable, but I was so glad to be with him and advocate for his care. The kids were troopers. On Nov. 18th, Caitlin broke her wrist. So…we had another obstacle. It would seem that we couldn’t catch a break, but really, there were so many miracles, I cannot hardly list them all. There were angels who brought us dinner and angels who helped with our kids, and angels who visited Steve in the hospital, and angels who prayed for us. I was never sick the entire time Steve was in the hospital. What a blessing. Anyway, on December 10th we went in to our regular doctor for another follow-up and Steve was really struggling. He sent us to ER and sure enough, Steve’s blood clot had broken free and traveled to his right lung. He now had multiple pulmonary embolisms on top of an infected cyst and 3 stents. He also had a lot of fluid around his left lung, and they drained 1200 cc’s before they sent us home. We’ve been back to ER 2 times since then – once because his blood thinners had thinned his blood WAY too much (it was seeping out his elbows), and once because he had a new super acute pain in his abdomen. The pain ended up being colon colic and the treatment was fairly straight-forward, but while we were there, they saw more fluid around his lung and his blood was below transfusion levels. He received a blood transfusion and they drained the fluid again. That was on January 14th. Last week was pretty good; he’s finally getting stronger. Yesterday was his first day that he didn’t need to be on oxygen. That’s a fantastic hurdle. He still needs it when he’s sleeping, but he can go all day without it. January 21st was the first day he slept with me in the bed. He’s lost 48 pounds. He’s super emaciated and he looks like he’s aged 10 years in 3 months. It breaks my heart. However, through it all we’ve focused on the blessings, and there have been many. This week he’ll get another CT scan and next Monday we go meet with the GI doc again. He’s going to go back in and remove the 3 stents…probably later next week. He told us to expect the procedure to be a set-back in Steve’s recovery. He also said Steve would likely take a year before he’s 100% again...." That is an excerpt of a letter I wrote to my Uncle Johnny in late January. Since then, Steve's had 4 more blood transfusions, 3 more endoscopic procedures, lost 12 more pounds, weaned himself off of the heavy duty pain killers, come off of oxygen completely, begun to heal and put back on 10 pounds. We were anticipating a gall bladder surgery, then a complete recovery and return to work. (Steve hasn't been to work since October). Well...on Wednesday, April 27th, our world shattered again when, after a colonoscopy, the doctor said Steve has stage 3 rectal cancer. We're waiting until next Wednesday to visit with the oncologist and get a treatment plan. We recognize that the entire pancreatic journey may be a blessing in disguise (that was quite a disguise!) because without the scans, they might never have found the cancer while it was still treatable. We are not blind to the blessings, and we're so grateful for tender mercies. I'll use this blog as a place to update anyone interested in following our journey. Thank you for you love and support. Joy