The Pancreatitis Supporters' Network

You are here: Elaine Coldwell's Story

Elaine Coldwell

 Mum was diagnosed with a urine infection and had been prescribed antibiotics.  However, she was violently sick after taking them and was diagnosed another set of antibiotics, the doctor thinking that she may be allergic to the first set.  The second set of antibiotics caused the same reaction and she was admitted into hospital on the 19^th September 2008 suffering with pains in her stomach and sickness.

After some tests and scans she was diagnosed with Pancreatitis, something we had never heard of before.  She was asked if she drank alcohol, which she didn't.  We understood the other cause could be Gallstones, however, from the scans there didn't seem to be any evidence.

We were told Mum would probably be in for a week.  Two weeks later Mum was operated on as further scans had found a cyst on the pancreas which was the size of a small football. 

 We were told that Mum would be out the following week if all went well.  The operation went well but she had a tube in her side, attached to a small bag, which was draining from the cyst.  This continued to drain but unfortunately she did not improve and gradually her breathing became much laboured.  On the 1^st November she was admitted into the ITU as her heart rate had doubled to 200 and her breathing had become worse.

To see her with machines all around her, fully ventilated and sedated will be an image that I think will stay with us for the rest of our lives.  But she was strong.  She had four shock treatments to her heart that weekend.  We couldn't believe this was happening to our Mum and Wife.  She slowly started to make a recovery and within a week she had been moved to the High Dependency Unit.

 Another week passed and she was back on the ward and we were all looking to the future as she had recovered, hadn't she?

 Progress was slow and she had now been practically bed ridden for two months.  It was now a matter of building her strength up but she was constantly plagued with diarrhoea and feeling sick.  Physiotherapy was difficult as she sometimes had a nose feed in, the drain in her side and a catheter.  However, Mum was strong and was determined to be out for Christmas.

 Mum did make steady, slow progress and on the 20^th December she came home.  She sobbed when she got into her lounge, not quite believing that she was actually home.  We had our Mum and Wife back, which was the best Christmas present anyone could have given us.

The last three months had been like a roller coaster ride, one day Mum would be good and then the next day she would take a down turn, it was exhausting. 

Mums eating still wasn't good but we thought that would improve with time.  Dad was an excellent carer which he had to become over night.  She still had diarrhoea but a prescription of Imodium cured that temporarily.  Her walking started to improve and in time she was able to walk without the Zimmer frame.  I must, at this point, state that Mum worked as an Accountant right up until the day she went into hospital, drove her own car and was completely independent.

Unfortunately, her eating did not improve and after nearly two weeks at home she was re-admitted to hospital on the 9^th January.  Her blood pressure had dropped dramatically.  She was understandably fed up and extremely low!  She was given fluids but this did not increase her blood pressure and she was re-admitted into the High Dependency Unit.  At this point she was told that there was nothing surgically wrong with her, she just had to eat!  We now thought she was over the Pancreatitis, she just needed to eat to get herself strong.

She went back onto the general ward during which time my Aunt (to whom we will be forever grateful) and Dad constantly took in food.  But Mum did not/could not eat, or at least very little, not enough.  Her surgeon called us and said he thought it would be a good idea for Mum to go on anti-depressants.  We were very pleased as we felt this could be the turning point.  Now she would eat and be out soon.   On the 19^th January we were all round Mums bed and she looked great.  She was talking about getting the kitchen done when she got home and we all decided we would go to Cyprus together.  It would also be Mum and Dads 50^th Wedding Anniversary on the 16^th May and we could celebrate together.  Wonderful, we had really turned the corner!! 

The rollercoaster was about to take another nose dive!  The following day she was complaining of hallucinations and begged us to take her home, threatening to discharge herself.  However, she was still not eating, still had diarrhoea and had drips giving her fluids.  How could we look after her, what if something went wrong, she wasn't well enough, we were very scared. 

She eventually calmed down but continued to ask to come home but we thought she was in the right place to make a recovery. 

On the 2^nd February her blood pressure dropped extremely low.  Her breathing was becoming worse again and she now had Thrush in her throat making eating even more improbable.  On the 3^rd she was again admitted into the High Dependency Unit and was again sedated and ventilated.  Naively we again thought Mum would pull through and decided that we would now need to cover breakfast, lunch and the evening meal once she was back on the ward.  Sadly she never regained consciousness and on the 5^th February the machines were switched off which were keeping her alive. 

We naively believed Mum would pull through and still find it hard to believe that this has happened.  However, we do now understand that her chance of recovering from this terrible disease was slim.  We now understand that Pancreatitis causes multi-organ failure.  We knew that the mortality rate was high but thought she had recovered.

This is a particularly nasty disease and we hope that by sending our donations to the Pancreatitis Supporters Network that awareness will be raised and that one day a cure will be found. 

Sadly missed Wife, Mum and Nanna

7 July 1938 to 5 February 2009

 Our Mum

I love you Mum with all my heart

I never thought we would be apart

You were always there to lend an ear

And cheer us up when we shed a tear

You were kind and thoughtful, generous and loving

And built a wonderful home to be brought up in

The 8 am phone calls, all our curtains you made

Who'll make our cakes and samosas, not forgetting the marmalade

Your everywhere in our house, inside and out

You even made the peg bag, for when I put the washing out

The knitting and sewing, the travelling wave done

The convent in India, shrieks of laughter with your sisters and the nuns

You were a remarkable Mother, Nana and Wife

And you'll always be a big part of our lives

Peter, Gordon and Suzanne

xxx

you are here: lLnks < home