Reply #51: Yes but it says he is in the ICU [View All]

People do not go to the ICU for a simple case of pancreatitis. It is a painful condition but it can be deadly. When the common duct becomes blocked from irritation, infection or a stone the enzymes of the pancreas that have been activated back up into the pancreas and begin to digest or breakdown the pancreas. It is painful, because you are being eaten by activated enzymes that have not made it to the intestinal tract, were they are harmless to people and break down food. If the enzymes have eaten through the pancreas into a vessel then he may bleed a lot and be put into the unit. If the enzymes have eaten into the liver, diaphragm or the lungs; he may go into some type of liver dysfunction, or respiratory emergency. Depending on the severity of it, it may kill you 10-15% of the time or leave you with a lot of scar tissue internally. Regardless of the severity it is very painful. So much so it will cause one to vomit. When is the last time you were in so much pain you vomited?

Regardless of the degree of his pancreatitis, he is in for a miserable few days. Being in the ICU makes me think he is either in bad shape, something else is going on, precious is being pampered or he is not really in the ICU.