Thank you for your response I very much appreciate it! So for treatment would it be the same then as the low fat diet and taking enzymes as I am? Is it something that can heal on its own over time?
Sorry for all the questions but I can't seem to get any answers out of my doctor. I sincerely appreciate all your help, I've looked for answers for 10 years and just knowing I'm finally getting them settles my anxiety so very much!!
I have another question for you. Is it normal for the liver levels to jump with a pancreatic attack? Mine have the last two times. Or could it be because of the bile duct dilatation involving the biliary system of the left lobe of the patient's liver?
I've decided not to do the ERCP. I'm feeling good otherwise and not having constant pain and hoping it will continue by eating very low fat and being very strict.
The idea of an ERCP probably is frightening to anyone facing the issue. If you have to have an ERCP, please make sure it's WITH a manometry step to measure the pressure in the duct and at the sphincter. You want to find out if the condition could possibly be SOD, sphincter of Oddi dysfunction.
Also talk to the doc - if an ERCP has to be done - about stenting the ducts. Not a nice thought, I know, but stenting can cut down on the possibility of setting off an attack.
My surgeon called me today saying he was surprised by my MRCP results as they did an MRI when I was having the gallbladder surgery and no ducts were dilated at that time. Said he was taking my films to a GI doc to see what they had to say as the next step and go from there. Makes me very nervous.
I'm hoping the dilatation will go down on its own as an ERCP really scares me in setting off an acute attack. Pain today and yesterday and not sure what from. :(
Hi and thanks for your response! I am eating a very low fat diet. In fact I haven't branched out much with my diet as I'm afraid of another attack. I dont know if it was the chicken breast or maybe the overactivity but ended up in the hospital a couple of weeks ago with elevated amylase and lipase. The removal of the gallbladder really set things off for me.
I am taking Pancrealipase with all my meals now & try to eat every few hours as I've lost almost 20 pounds in the last six weeks.
After surgery my liver levels were also very high but have now returned to normal & they were thinking everything inflamed from surgery.
There is no mention of the pancreatic duct and no focal liver lesion identified. The last two days I've been inflamed but praying over time it is going to heal.
Bikerblue, the MRCP report really doesn't say much about the pancreas in what you wrote here. The mention of dilatation could be the result of the removal of the gallbladder. For some unknown reason the duct may/can enlarge after the surgery. It may or may not mean anything at all. Talk to your doc about the size of the enlargement which might be of significance.
In some cases the enlargement can be due to spasms of the common bile duct further down the tube system. When that happens, the bile and pancreatic fluids back up the ducts and if it happens long enough and often enough the ducts can enlarge.
Did they say anything about the pancreatic duct?
Are you following a low fat diet and taking pancreatic enzymes? And have you been checked for autoimmune pancreatitis?
It sounds a bit more like the unifying issue may in fact be the common bile duct.