...as you're about; I was diagnosed yesterday with some permanent damage to my pancreas following a bout of severe pancreatitis 9 years ago. I have also developed a small cyst in the pancreas. Just how serious is this on the scale of things? Am I right to be alarmed? (69 year-old male),
Can you? I have had my gall bladder removed and can live happily without it but a pancreas? In that case why do so many people die from pancreatic cancer?
Islay is correct in that life after total removal of the pancreas is acceptable to make the operation a viable option....although i would question the phrase "quite happily ,"
They die of cancer spread to other organs (metastasis)
Maybe your cyst is different, but I too developed a cyst after acute pancreatitis. It caused a lot of pain, but I was left to suffer with it a long time. I was told no surgeon is in a hurry to operate on a pancreas, and there was a good chance it would disappear of its own accord after six months or so. It didn't, and I suffered daily pain for over a year.
If you are in pain, I hope you get dealt with quicker.
Well I went for an MRI for suspected gallstones the ultrasound was unsuccessful due to me being slightly chubby. I went back to the consultant who gave me the fright of my life and told me that there was a 1cm growth on my pancreas he had not seen it before and needed to consultant with colleagues. He eventually referred it to a pancreatic expert and it was 3 months later that they decided it was a benign anomaly and said if they scanned everyone in the population they would find these little cysts in a lot of people it has never bothered me much they now think I have a dysfunctional sphincter of oddi
Ruggero Oddi. Ruggero Oddi (July 20, 1864 – March 22, 1913) was an Italian physiologist and anatomist who was a native of Perugia. He is most well known for the Sphincter of Oddi, which was named after him.
They want me to have further blood tests but I have asked for them to be done locally as I can't afford to shell out £30+ taxi fare for the 20 mile round trip every other week. Cost me £35 yesterday, inc. tips.