is there anyone living without a pancreas?

I am living without a pancreas its been 2 years exactly. I take creon pills to help break down the food if you dont take enough of the enzymes you will continue to have diarea but they do work you just have to adjust. I sometimes have alittle pain which is very irritating. Have you had the scar tissue checked? I have the bloatness and always feel full, I am now getting the scar tissue checked because i also read up on that scar tissue builds up and it gives you the same symptoms. I had a total pancreactomy islet cell transplant. Dr. Gruessner from Tucson Az at the Center for Chronic Pancreatitis. I feel so great living now without so much pain. I am not on any transplant meds but i do take creon, and only 14 units of insulin a day

yea, move too canada. free medical. im not kidding, thats what i did.

hello Rich, I am looking for some advice. I am a 52 year old male that knows he is having pancreatic attacks or a complete shout down right now. Bright yellow stools and saveer back pain after eating, and all night. I have had a cat scan done of my abdamon but they didn't find anything. I ask the doctors to do a scan focused on the pancreas but he says it cost too much and the insurance wont pay because I don't have the all the symptoms. Please can you talk to me and help me figure out what i need to do next? Im hoping it's not cancer but by the time they wont to do somthing about it could be. Thanks for any help you can give. your own thoughts would be appreciated.

hello Lena, Im a 52 year old male lving in pa. I hope you are doing well. I have had pancreatic attacks for a couple years now but never knew what they were. I was always in the emergancy room for my heart and they would send me home the next day. I have never knew that i was having pancreatic attacks. well, now after two weeks of pain and all the symptoms my doctor tells me im nutts and the general cat scan of my stomach with a small focas on my pancreas shows nothing. Well, I'm here to tell you with all this pain in my back and left side after eating I know it has shut down or something. can you tell me the process you went through to get help? and if this was your situation what you would do next? I know your not a doctor but anyones input at this time would be great. Im at a loss. Thank you for your help.

please can you tell me if your husband is still alive? Im having savear pain in my uppre left side and back. I have all the classic symptoms and have had these attacks before. Although they were never diagnosed and it is a complete shut down now. the ct scan of my stomach showed nothing and the doctor says my insurance wont cover a pancreatic scan alone with out more avidince that there is a problem. I'm at a loss right now and hoping it's just a shut down with no cancer. can you give me any advice about how to get this properly diagnosed so i can get started working on it right away. Thank you. Joe G.

hello albl, Im having a lot of problems and i think my pancreas has shut down. I have had no diagnoses because the abdumin ct scan showed nothing so the doctor wont do a ct scan focused on the pancreas. says the insurance wont pay for it. can you tell me if you received any help from people on this site and if it was usfull? Im 52 and in a lot of pain most of the time starting from about 30 after a meal. i find it very hard to eat and just looking for any kind of advice you might have found and could pass along. Thank you so much for your time.

please jaw can you help me. I've had pancreantitius for years and never knew i had it. know its so bad i think it's shut down. my ct scan of my stomach showed now cancer but my doctor says a pancreas scan alone would cost too much and my insurance wont pay for it. Please any advice you could give me on what i should do next, my doctor wont diagnose me with anything yet till he does an upper and lower gi IN 7 WEEKS.... Im in so much pain after i eat and most of the night i can't sleep. any help on what kind of suplaments you take and how to relieve the pain i would be very greatful for. Even a little advice on how you got the doctors to recocnize your problem would be great. Thank you. Joe G.

my husband is still in the hospital after having gall bladder and then his pancreas removed. this is going to be a challenge. i hope we have better luck than you and your husband has had. i can't really find any specific guidelines that tells you what you should and shouldn't eat and how to cook it. frankly i'm worried but am ready to go home after almost 2 months in the hospital. i wish you both the best and hope things get better for you.

You need to see a good Gastroenterologist and have an EUS done of the pancreas to determine the extent of damage and to develop a treatment plan. Good Luck

on October 16 ,2011 I had a stroke,they flew me air ambulance to a larger hospital,were I had another stroke,they put me in an induced coma for two months,during that time they removed my colleen,21 feet of lower intestine,half my stomace,my gallbladder,my pancreas,my apendics,my legs wer ,e black from the knees down,when I came out of my coma,it took about 4 months to get circulation back down to my feet but ended up losing my left foot and 2 toes off my right one today is January 5 2014,im getting my new left foot on wed the 8th cant wait,I am home now with my dog who at the time I went in was 15,18 now and still going stick to your meds and diet things will be fine.oh by the way they did a paper on me in the medical jurnal they said I was one of 6 in the world .I still find that strange good luck

Hello All, My name is Joe and I live near Reading, PA. In 2007 I was told to quit my job and get my affairs in order. At this time I would like to share my story and maybe it will help someone. In 2007 I was diagnosed with stage 2 pancreatic cancer. The only reason it was caught early was because the tumor was growing at the very end of the pancreas and started closing off my bile duct which made me jaundiced. While undergoing a procedure(at Reading Hospital) to drain off the excess bile a Doctor advised me that I should go to a major cancer center and have the Whipple/Cancer surgery operation performed there, which I did. I was put in touch with Dr. John Cameron at Johns Hopkins Medical Center. Dr Cameron and his ME Heather did a lot to relieve the anxiety caused by a diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer. To make a long story short, Dr Cameron said that if he didn't like the look of the pancreas that he would remove entire pancreas and I would become a diabetic. Well, he removed the entire pancreas as well as some other items, which is all part of the Whipple Surgery. First of all being a diabetic is a small price to pay to still be here and annoy my wife and kids. It is now Jan 2014 and I can't complain. I am 62 and still very active (Boy Scout Leader, Business owner and Dad to 3 teenage sons). After the surgery I had to undergo Radiation and Chemo. During Radiation they burned my esophagus and left me with some scar tissue there. When I first started taking insulin, I used a pen and now I have an insulin pump which changes the ball game and makes being a diabetic easy to handle. Your pancreas secretes enzymes to help you digest your food. Since I don't have one I must take an enzyme supplement such as Pancrease or Creon. Without this supplement you will experience symptoms of diarrhea because the stomach is not digesting the food properly. In addition, I also take Pantoprazole(Protonix) which inhibits the amount of acid in my stomach. This acid will definitely cause you pain in the stomach area. I have recently found out that any over the counter acid reducer that ends with "zole" will also do the same thing that the perscription does. I don't want to get long winded and will say that I have some experience in living without a pancreas. If anyone needs any help or has any questions feel free to ask. I will do the best I can in trying to answer you.

Hi I'm 33 and had 95% of my pancreas removed 3 years ago due to necrotizing pancreatitis. I spent 3 months in ICU, lost 30kgs and had multiple complications such as organ failure, DVT, klebsiella pneumonia, fluid on the lungs, renal failure, etc. Prognosis after surgery was 3-6 months to live and would be a diabetic, mal nourished and taking pills + pain relief for ever. Through the power of prayer and belief in a miracle performing God I left hospital and recovered well. I am not a diabetic, I take no insulin, no enzymes, no pain relief and have gained all my weight back and live a normal life. Medical tests show. I suffer from fat malabsorption yet I am fit and healthy. I have been studied by medical experts and they cannot believe I am functioning. So it is possible to live with no pancreas.

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I am really interested in learning more about those of you who have had a total pancreas removal to find out if you are happy with that decision overall as compared to your initial diagnosis. The reason Im so curious is because I too have. chronic pancreatitis that is mostly confined to the head of my pancreas, and wonder if a total pancreatectomy would result in a better quality of life than living with severe pain daily. Doctors have advised me not to because they really want me to do the islet cell transplant, but I cannot afford the 50k that insurance doesn't cover, so I am currently looking into other options. After running accross this website and reading a couple of stories here where some have had good outcomes I am wondering if I have been unnecessarily scared into shying away from total pancreatectomy as an option. Thanks in advance and I hope to hear your story of how life is without a pancreas. In cases of chronic pancreatitis, if this surgery will heal the pain of chronic pancreatitis. Thanks :)

I had my pancreas removed June 14, 2010 and my islet cells were tranplanted to my liver.  I took Viocase for the first 6 months before they lost their FDA approval.  I started on Creon and had nothing but problems.  Pancrease 21,000 is what I started on after that.  It has taken me two years to figure out how to eat, how to take my enzymes, and I am happy to report I am finally feeling better than I have felt my whole life!  Without a pancrease we have to process our food WAY better to get it to the point where it will digest.  It also helped when I started taking my enzyme regularly, even when I skipped a meal.  By listening to my body and responding to it, I have been able to completely get rid of narcotic pain and nausea medications.  There really is no scientific reasoning to digesting food for us, but if you are dilligent it is possible to live a healthy life.  P.S. I control the diarrhea by keeping a healthy dose of cheese in my daily diet!

I live in ider, al and I live without a pancreas, stomach hurts a lot, and I control my sugar with 2 kinds of insulin and only 48 yrs old. been sick since I was 40. take a lot of meds. I had a whipple surgery. took out pancreas, bile duct and half my stomach. 9 yrs ago had spleen and 90% of pancreas removed then tumors came back last yr