Rick so far.....

First and foremost I'd like to say thank you for all of our friends and family for the prayers and kind words. It means a lot to me. This has been the most difficult week of my life. For those who know me, they will understand that I'm a control freak but in a good way. I have always been like that and probably always will be. I love my husband with all of my heart and not being able to do anything just sucks. I can only sit here and watch him and pray. He is heavily sedated while on a ventilator with over half dozen different bags meds/fluids going in him. He's such a fighter that they had to restrain him so he doesn't pull out his IVs or cath or any other devices he's hooked up to. 

This all started with severe abdominal pain and vomiting. He went to the ER where they transported him to Fairview where he was diagnosed with acute, severe pancreatitis. From there he was transported to the Cleveland Clinic ICU. This condition was brought on by high triglycerides from his diabetes and drinking. None of which go well together. His triglycerides (fat) were over 7000 and a normal healthy person should have a level of under 200. They performed a plasmapheresis to "clean" out the triglycerides (fat) to 500 or below. After 2 procedures, it is down to 406 and we need to keep it that way (or lower) Now they need to get his levels stable because they started him on a TPN (IV nutrition) His pancreas needs to rest and heal because it is very inflamed and swollen. They have been trying to find the right combination of meds to keep him comfortable and sedated to let this happen. He is calm at the moment and he needs to stay this way. 

I appreciate all think calls and texts and facebook notes but I don't have very good reception here so I apologize for not replying. I'm trying to stay focused on my husband/best friend/my love. Thank you for understanding

Janet

 http://www.gastro.org/patient-center/digestive-conditions/pancreatitis#The%20Pancreas