About me

In March 2006 I got a severe case of Pancreatitus and was in the hospital for 81 days, most of that time was spent in the ICU. Five months later I was finally starting to recover enough to get back to work and life.

My doctors had been holding out hope that my pancreas might recover and that my diabetes would be a temporary condition. Tests last August confirmed that my pancreas is not going to recover so I am now facing the reality of being a diabetic for the rest of my life. I’ve been in somewhat of a state of denial about it but now it’s time to get serious about learning how to live with diabetes. Also my last A1C was 7.2 which cames as quite shock since I had been keeping it below 7. That has also motivated me to find help wherever I can.

Enough of my sob story. I am a very active person these days, I lost 75 lbs in the hospital and am in better shape than I have been since my early 20’s. I commute to work on my bike, am an avid hiker, skier and snowshoer.

My real passion these days is river rafting. My wife and I have our own raft that is capable of supporting up to 4 people on extended (8-10 day) trips. No need to go into much more detail here about that just visit our website River Journals if you would like see what it’s all about. River Journals also happens to be where I show off my other passion in life, 360º panoramic photography.

I’m sure you’ll “see” me around.

Welcome Rob! I am so glad you joined!

Hi Rob, I am a newbie, but wanted to say hi and let you know that I am also a diabetic due to pancreatitis. My event happened in 2003 - I was in the hospital for 2 months almost to the day, also most of that in the ICU. They ended up having to remove 90% of my pancreas because three stones had gotten stuck in my bile duct and basically shut down my pancreas. It was covered with a pseudocyst and was “rotten”. I am so glad to finally know of others (you and landileigh) who are diabetics because of pancreatitis. Are you a pumper? I have used a Minimed Paradigm since 2004 but have decided to try the Omnipod because I have so few working infusion sites because of my scars. I wish you the best!

Is there a group for PWDs that have or may have become diabetic due to pancreatitis etc???

It seem to explain my situation…

(&( GOMER

Hi all… My diabetes is also a direct result of pancreatitis, cause unknown. My body ate up 90% of it and then I ended up with many pseudocysts but no surgery. Doc said it was too dangerous to operate because there were so many of them. I was lucky because my body healed them. I also was hospitalized for just about 2 months, most of which was in ICU. I’m going tomorrow for my first lessons on the OmniPod System. Finding this site really helps me not feeling alone any more. Thanks.