Bye bye insulin!

Hello all! I am out in MN this week for my 6 month post-op testing. I saw the endocrinologist today and I am officially off all insulin!!! 6 months ago, I never would have guessed that this would happen when I was told that I had a low islet yield. I had a 7% chance that I would not need insulin, but I know my success is because of all the prayers I continue to receive, so thank you all who have done this for me. Dr. Bellin praised me for keeping my blood sugars so well controlled and I said, "Well, I sure didn't want to go through all that for nothing!" Giving myself insulin really was never a big deal (and certainly nothing compared to pancreas pain!), but it still makes me so happy to be insulin-free.

Nobody here can figure out what's going on with my joint pain, although everyone noticed how swollen my hands and feet are. Next step is a rheumatologist, which has proven more difficult than I anticipated. They won't see a patient without a referral, and it's tough to light fires under my Tucson doctors' butts sometimes...

Dr. Dunn was wonderful to see, of course. It's been really nice to say hi to everyone who have had such a huge impact on my life. Anyway, some of my vitamin levels came back low, so Dr. Dunn ordered some additional bloodwork today. I may need to start getting vitamin B-12 injections, which I hear really makes a difference in energy levels. She also wants me to start taking probiotics, which should help clear up the bacteria in my GI tract that is probably a big contributor to my nausea. I also asked her about the results of my latest CT which showed that my colon has migrated up into my armpit. I wondered if that could be rubbing up against raw nerves and causing some of my pain. She thinks that's possible, but a lot of it is probably from adhesions in there. She also felt a small hernia that she would like to fix when I come back for my 1 year checkup. At that point, she can also remove some of those adhesions and revise my scar, which has a lot of adhesions/scar tissue.

I'm sure there's more, but my brain is at max capacity right now. Erin and I are heading back home tomorrow. She has been so wonderful this whole trip, taking such good care of me. I am so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends taking care of me, driving me around to doctor's appointments and helping with the kids. I really can't thank you all enough, but do know that I deeply appreciate everything you do!

Update 8/15

Just wanted to give a quick update. Yesterday, Dr. Khan did an endoscopy on me to look at my stomach and see if there was anything there that might be causing all my nausea and vomiting. He saw some abnormalities and took biopsies of those (he doesn't think they're cancerous, but may help lead us to something that is causing the nausea.) He also injected Botox into my pylorus. The pylorus is the muscle at the base of the stomach that helps push food out of your stomach into your intestines. It can get swollen or inflamed and cause nausea. Well, today I woke up and didn't need to take any nausea medicine until 1:30 pm! That may sound silly, but I have had to take nausea medicine as soon as I wake up or I can't even get out of bed for the last year. So this is incredibly monumental! I just pray it continues to work! I saw my pain doctor today and he told me that he had another patient who had that done, and it got rid of her pain, too. That would be so amazing if I could get rid of the pain, too! Anyway, my next step is to go out to MN for my 6 month post-op checkup. I can't believe it's been 6 months already! I sure thought I would be much further along in my recovery by now, so it does get depressing at times. But today I'm feeling relatively ok and excited about the prospect of how the Botox might "fix" me, so that's what I'm focusing on today! :-)