Stephreloaded passed away last night from complications from pancreatitis. This hits me personally as we have been board members and 'known" each other since the early days of The Nest, on a smallish board where we all got to know each other, and we all still keep in touch to this day. Steph was here more than she was there, but we kept in touch in both places. I've seen her go through a rough marriage and divorce, watched her daughter V (her sig pic) grow up from a baby into a beautiful young lady. She resided in Colombia, but followed American politics closely, having lived her, borne her daughter here and raising her daughter as a dual citizen of the US and Colombia. Her voice was heard here and abroad, pushing for child safety, liberal political beliefs, and friendship and caring for her fellow citizens.
Pancreatitis is a sneaky, deceptive disease. I was hospitalized from it for nearly a month, with the doctors wanting me to remain for at least another month on a purely liquid diet. Since they were already looking to insert needles into my feet by that time, it was a no-go. It is the reason I have diabetes today. I dismissed it as a stomach ache, indigestion, bad food, reaction to food I was eating. The symptoms were mild...until they weren't one night and i ended up in the hospital, with an immediate admission, testing and put on medications to the point of semi-lucidity.
Having experienced it, I know how it can sneak up and what a beast it is to overcome once it is recognized. If you have symptoms of nausea, severe upper abdominal pain/cramping, increased heart rate, pain after eating and/or abdominal bloating, fatigue PLEASE get checked out. Mine first exhibited as gas/indigestion that continued for several days and which I ignored, thinking it would just be something I could power through and it would go away. By the time it got severe enough for me to be talked into going to the hospital - just a couple days after first recognizing something was wrong - I had a compromised liver and jaundice, liquid in my lungs, my entire abdominal cavity was compromised and my husband was told that "if I survived through the first four days I should be okay." I was given a less than 30% chance of making it through those first four days and if I'd waited any longer chances for my survival were close to zero. I was very, very lucky. I had a boss who was a medical negligence attorney and had contacts throughout the medical field and who pulled those contacts to get me the best care available and I got to the hospital in time to receive the care required.
Steph was here just last week, talking about school experiments, beans and brown cows, and politics here and abroad. PLEASE take care, recognize the symptoms and get checked out as soon as possible.
Oh no, how terribly sad. She was just posting recently too. I remember her sig pic with her beautiful daughter. My thoughts are with her family and friends.
Post by sparkythelawyer on Jun 22, 2017 13:11:17 GMT -5
I am so sorry to hear this. Pancreatitis can indeed be sneaky as hell. I had it right around the time I found out I was pregnant and I had to push my doctor to check for it. Love and light to her family.