My father is 70 years old and has been in the hospital for 7 weeks now and is no better. He went in with severe stomach pains, and was diagnosed with pancreatitis. I have been in the medical field, in genetics, for over 24 years, so I do have medical knowledge, just not in this case. He has severe COPD and severe emphysema, and he cannot undergo surgery for his pancreatitis.
This is what I need to know because I am not satisfied with what the doctors are telling me: Will he get over this and go home, or are they just waiting on him to die? Mentally and somewhat physically, he is good, but he is just not responding to antibiotic treatments. His white count has not gotten below 20 thousand since he’s been there. It keeps fluctuating around 20 to 24 thousand. His last CT showed “multiple cysts” and one part of his pancreas is “dead”.
They didn’t tell us what part of the pancreas (head, body or tail) is dead. All they tell us is that he has “2 large cysts, and several small cysts”. Pancreatic juices from the pancreatic duct were sent to the lab and it is not cancer. No biopsies have been done. He is on TPN for nutrition, morphine, 2 or 3 kinds of antibiotics (oral and by IV). He has tried to tolerate his liquid diet (broth and jello) and cannot.
His stomach is hugely swollen with knots bulging (Dr. says this is scar tissue?). What I’ve been reading about pancreatitis, prognosis doesn’t look good for my dad, but why won’t the doctors just tell us what to expect? We just cannot get the information we need. Has anyone known anyone with pancreatitis this severe and has survived it? Any information will be so greatly appreciated.