This has been our longest stay in the hospital to date, and we aren't done yet. A little setback today--More pain--so now he has to be off pain meds for 24 hours before he can have anything to eat or drink. Another scan today looked a little better and was encouraging. The doctor said to expect a few good days then maybe a bad one, hopefully this was it. Dennis is feeling much better and is able to walk around the floor, he does a few laps every couple of hours. He is watching a little TV which doesn't sound like much but up until now he has been in too much pain to focus and the noise was too distracting. He is very particular about having the room dark and total quiet when he sleeps so being here makes it hard for him to get a good nights rest. He is in the first room down the hall so everyone that visits the floor passes his door. When they have a "private" phone call to make they stand outside his room by the window and then talk real loud. The food carts also pass by and they have a new thing where you can order food at any time and they will bring it to your room so there is a constant stream of food going by. Other than that things are going well. Going without food isn't as hard as it sounds when you know the pain it can cause. He did get to eat a clear liquid diet Saturday and Sunday then full liquid on Monday even though he didn't eat much. Gotta take baby steps.

I know I never update this, but it is much easier than trying to remember who I have told what.
Dennis was admitted to Utah Valley Hospital on Sunday July 3 with an attack of Pancreatitis. It came on suddenly and was one of the worst attacks I have seen him have. When this happens there isn't a lot that can be done, except to manage the pain and try to make him comfortable. Right now it is Wednesday and even though he has had a ton of pain meds he is still enduring alot of pain. He is given a double dose of Dilated(?) every 4 hours. At about 3 hours the pain kicks in. He is being pumped full of fluids to try to flush out the swelling that is in his system. The most important part right now is lots and lots of rest so that his body can heal. He can NOT have any food or water until his pancreas calms down which in the past has taken about 5 to 7 days. His white blood count is up so they have him on an antibiotic, and he is also on oxygen because his breathing is shallow to help ease the pain. Tuesday he had an ultrasound of his pancreas taken and there is definitely swelling. His numbers are amylase and lipase numbers are coming down but while the swelling is still there he is miserable. Unfortunately this is one of those illnesses that is very difficult to diagnose. He does not have any of the usual reasons for this to happen, such as, diabetes, gall stones (that was removed on the 2nd attack) and he is not an alcoholic. This leaves out all of the easy answers and we are now looking at Autoimmune Pancreatitis. The first test for this has come back negative, however there are still more tests to be done. His let arm IV just gave out this morning and he now has one in his right arm. If he has problems there they will probably do a PIC line. He had these on the last two stays.
This is the 4th time he has been hospitalized for this problem. The treatment for Pancreatitis is always the same, rest and no food or water to stimulate the organ. He still has a sense of humor and his biggest worry was that his guys at work got paid for last week, thanks to Tim, that happened!
He spends most of his time sleeping right now and can get up for bathroom breaks on his own. When I know more I will post again. Thanks for all your love and concern. Marlene