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One of the worst and the hardest things about Pancreatitis is the pancreatic pain. It is honestly INSANE how much the pancreas hurts when it gets inflamed. Words cannot describe how horrible the pain gets. I have learned that there are very few lucky people that may not experience any pain, or their pain may not be as bad as it is for the most people who have chronic pancreatitis. Well, unfortunately I belong to the group that gets this ridiculous pain, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Every second of every day, my pain is always there with me, always there.

The pain of Pancreatitis is a very complicated topic and I will be talking a lot about it. I will be posting everything that I have learned about this type of pain from my experience with this disease. As I continue writing this blog, I also continue living with my Pancreatitis. Over time things will be changing, and most likely they will be getting worse for me, so I want you to know that I will continue updating the chapters as soon as I get new information with respect to Pancreatitis. I will be talking about every experience that I have had with this disease, no matter how embarrassing or humiliating things may be. I want you to know that it is extremely difficult for me to expose myself like this, but I am constantly searching for a cure. I do not want to give up. I am not ready to give up. I also pray and hope that my struggles with this disease can help others like me. I am keeping my fingers crossed for all of us.

Now, let’s talk about the nasty pain of Pancreatitis. So how severe is the pain? I honestly do not think that I can find the perfect words to describe how bad the pain gets. Just to give you an idea, I have given birth two times to two beautiful boys, and that was a peanut in comparison to the pancreatic pain that I experience on daily basis. Between the two boys, Peter and Oscar, I was in labor for about 40 hours, from the beginning to the end, so believe me, this was not like a walk in a park for me. Still, dealing with the constant pain of Pancreatitis is the hardest thing that I have ever done. So believe me when I tell you, Pancreatitis causes excruciating pain. It is insane to the point where I feel like I am losing my mind sometimes, like I want to blow my head off just to get a relief. I know that I would never ever do that, but the pain does make me feel like this. It is horrific. Our pancreas is an amazing organ, but when it gets pissed off it can take you down. That is why I say this now, please, please, please love your pancreas and take the best care of it. The amount of pain that comes with Pancreatitis is not worth anything.

My first major symptoms started in 2011 when I was 26. At that time I was raising two beautiful boys and attending university full time. I was full of life. I felt like I can do anything. I had ridiculous amounts of energy. I kept myself busy all the time. My life was full of dreams and future plans. Things in my private and professional life were perfect. Then the symptoms started. First, on daily basis I started vomiting undigested food shortly after eating. I was getting very nauseous all the time. I was losing my appetite. I had severe intestinal spasms and diarrhea after eating. I was not tolerating many different foods that were part of my regular diet before. I had malabsorption of nutrients in my bowels, oily dark stools, frequent migraines, low blood pressure, fatigue, and weight loss. That was going on every day in 2011. As time progressesed, so did the Pancreatitis.

As you can see pancreatic pain was not on the list at first. I had lots and lots of medical tests done since 2011, but I will talk about those in another chapter. Pain is my main focus in this section. In 2012 I started feeling pain in my upper abdomen, in the center and on the left side. The pain was much worse in the upper center of my abdomen. The pain was radiating to the back and it would get much worse after eating. At that time, the pain was not constant, but would come and go. Also, the pain was not as severe as it is today, 8 years after. In 2012, I could tolerate the pain without using any medication. Daily vomiting and malabsorption of nutrients worried me more because I was not getting any relief from those two. On top of everything, I started vomiting bile. Before I even opened my eyes in the morning I would begin throwing up bile and undigested food contents. It was horrible. Things were progressively getting worse and I was not getting any answers.

In 2013 the pain got much more severe. It also progressed to a daily thing. Sleeping became extremely difficult because the back pain would get much worse after laying down. 2013 was the first year when I started using over the counter pain medication, called Acetaminophen to deal with the pain. I still tolerated most of my pain because I was always against any pain medication unless absolutely necessary. Acetaminophen helped for about a year, but by the end of 2013 the pain got so bad that nothing over the counter would relieve my pain. Eating was becoming impossible. The pain would get too severe and trigger vomiting. The nausea would also get much worse when the pain increased. My appetite was completely gone. I was seeing my family doctor for all of these issues, but I was not being heard.

First, in May of 2011 after a blood test was done, I was told that I have H-Pylori bacteria, which was treated with a course of antibiotics and PPI’S. After this treatment, my symptoms persisted and things continued to get worse. To be continued…..

Getting diagnosed properly took a very long time in my case. There were a lot of complications that I went through before I finally got the right answer. It took six years and things got really, really, really bad before the doctors finally figured out my Pancreatitis. The worst thing about my Pancreatitis is that I still do not know what is causing, or triggering my pancreatic flare ups. I have learned that knowing the cause of your Pancreatitis means that you can stop, or at least slow down the progression of Chronic Pancreatitis, ease up the symptoms, and of course make your life much better. Well, it has been 8 years since my Pancreatitis started affecting my daily life and I still do not have a clear answer. But I know that there are many people like me who also do not know, but we continue searching for answers, and more importantly we continue living. I will talk more about all the complications that happened with my diagnosis in another post. For now, I want to talk about all the conditions that I have been diagnosed with.

Getting the right diagnosis early is extremely important when it comes to Chronic Pancreatitis. This is a horrible disease and you cannot stop Chronic Pancreatitis, but you can slow down the progression of it significantly. Getting the right diagnosis early allows you to get it under control early. It is crucial, especially that getting Acute Pancreatitis can be deadly. What is worse, the risk of Pancreatic Cancer is high when you are living with Chronic Pancreatitis.

So to summarize, between 2010 and 2019, I have been diagnosed with idiopathic chronic pancreatitis (CP), recurrent acute pancreatitis, acute pancreatitis, post pancreatitis sensitive pancreas, bile acid reflux, bile acid malabsorption, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D), chronic migraine headaches, chronic gastritis, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), esophagitis grade A, abdominal wall pain, and H. Pylori bacteria.

This has been a very long and difficult process for me and my family. But getting some answers has definitely kept me going. I keep praying every day that I never lose hope. Having God, my family, and my friends on my side has been keeping me alive. I truly could not imagine doing this alone. Having support networks is so important when it comes to this disease, or any other disease. Everyone needs to have them. For me, knowing that I am not alone in all of this means the world to me. I thank all of you who have been supporting me through this journey. I could never do this without you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I decided to create this website and, or blog because I wanted to share my story to help everyone like me. I truly believe that we can find a cure to this awful illness. I also want to encourage everyone suffering from Pancreatitis to share their story because our unbelievable suffering cannot and should not go unnoticed. Talking about my health problems is an extremely hard thing for me to do. It has taken me 8 years to finally come to the point where I can, and want to talk about it. I have been telling myself that I finally accept my condition and I will do everything in my power to live a full and happy life, no matter how hard every second of every day is going to be for me. I started writing in my journal over 3 years ago. As of now I have 500 pages of bullet points which amount to 675 paragraphs. I have over 1500 pages of medical records. I have been through every medical test with respect to Pancreatitis, and multiple other conditions. I have been through many treatments, many medications, many doctors and many medical specialists. I have tried many diets. Pretty much, I have done everything there is to do since I have been 26 years old to diagnose and treat my conditions, especially Pancreatitis. One thing about my Pancreatitis is that it is accompanied by other medical problems. I have done tons and tons of research over the course of my disease. I have read many stories and all of us with Pancreatitis share many common symptoms and problems. I want to share everything that I have done and everything that I have, including my medical records with all of you reading my blog. I truly hope that all of my experiences could make a difference in the life of others like me. I have read thousands and thousands of pages of medical research; and countless stories of patients who like me continue searching for help. I truly believe that together we can make our lives worth living, no matter how hard things will get.

Please, Please, Please I truly urge all of you reading my blog, let’s be very sensitive towards each other and remember, we are all human and we all have struggles. No hate and abuse is going to be tolarated on this website. We have to support one another. Let’s be there for each other. Thank you

My name is Ewa (Eva) Agbaba Stanska. I am 35 years old. I am a wife to Milan Agbaba, the most wonderful husband in the world. I am a mother to two most amazing boys, Peter who is 16, and Oscar who is 10. I have the most perfect family and the most perfect life. I say that because I want you to know that I am a real person, and pancreatitis or pancreatic disease does not define me. Being sick is just one of the many roles that I have to play right now, and maybe forever, but I refuse to think that my disease is who I am.

I was born in Poland in 1984. I immigrated to Canada in 2001, at the age of 17. My trip to Canada was supposed to be just a two months vacation, but today is 2019 and I am still in Canada. I am split between the two countries, but I consider both of them to be my homes. I love them dearly and nothing can change that.

I have been fighting pancreatic disease, bile acid reflux, bile acid malabsorption, and other digestive problems since 2010. That is when things got the most serious. Since I have gotten sick, I still managed to complete my university degrees at the University of Western Ontario. In 2013, I graduated with Honors and Distinction, with a Bachelor of Arts Degree, Major in Philosophy and Major in Sociology. In 2016, I graduated with two Post Graduate Diplomas, one in Childhood and Advocacy, and second one in Childhood in the Justice System.

Being sick has been absolutely the hardest thing that I ever had to do, but I refuse to give up. I truly believe that as long as I am breathing and as long as my heart keeps beating, I am going to win this fight. Things are not over until I say they are over. At this point, I am just warming up.

A very warm Welcome to all of my Readers. Thank you for coming to my website. If you need help dealing with pancreatitis type issues, then you came to the right place. I completely understand how you feel. Living with pancreatic disease has been the hardest thing that I ever had to do. I have been surviving for ten years since the first major symptoms started to appear. It all started in 2010. I truly hope that through all of my experiences and daily struggles with this disease I can be of assistance to everyone looking for help, and/or information on how to live with a mean pancreas, and still be happy, and love the life that we are given. It took me 10 years, but I finally feel like I am getting things under control, or at least a more stable life. My reoccurring, repetitive, and extremely painful pancreatic flare ups do not control my life. I am finally beginning to participate in my own existence again. I pray and hope for the cure every day. I hope that you will join me, and many others like me in this journey, and one day we can destroy this disease. Giving up is not an option. However, I need you to understand that I am not a doctor, and I am not a medical professional. I am not giving anyone a medical advice here. Always seek medical opinion from a qualified expert. More importantly, do not wait. If you think that you require medical attention, see a doctor immediately. Thank you.