Man I feel GOOD today! Every time I get "hankreatitis" I always spend the next day or two feeling on top of the world.

For those who actually read this completely meaningless blog...Hankreatitis is actually similar to PANCREATITIS. In 2002, just after I hit my goal weight, I had kidney stones. They hurt.

They hurt a lot.

No, seriously.

A LOT!

Anyhow, long story short, had a CT scan and they said the stone was small (felt like Mick Jagger in army boots to me) but there was a spot on my pancreas.

Insert sound of heart thudding to floor here.

For those in the know, spots on pancreases=bad.

Because I am:

a) a teacher

and

b) a nutcase

I named my pancreatic tumor "Hank". To esplain...when I told my students I had this thing, they got very upset. They actually LIKE me (go figure) so I created a webpage explaining just what was going on, using humor. Also, honestly I was scared. Everything I read said that tumors on the pancreas mean cancer. I don't like that word.

So I went in in January to have the tumor scooped out (much like ice cream, only not creamy and delicious). It was bigger than first thought. Eep! Closed me back up and made me heal (the nerve...they couldn't even just do it a few days later). In April I went in and had what's called a "Whipple Procedure" aka Pancreatic Duodectomy.

You're getting that same look my husband gets when I talk about RAM latency and video card specs. *snap* *snap* Pay attention!

Anyhooo...they cut off the head of my pancreas, my duodenum went into the waste basket, wasn't using that appendix anyhow, sayonara gall bladder, and you had a main bile duct, but we can rebuild it bigger, better, stronger...we have the technology. I'm not sure what else was left in there.

A few weeks later, just for giggles, I had another surgery to repair a blockage. Did I mention that April 2003 wasn't my favorite month?

So, too late to really MAKE the long story short, but ever since the surgery I get recurring bouts of pain, fever, and nausea that is extremely debilitating. It goes like this:

(Zoom in on shot of Energizer Bunny with big grin on his face, running a marathon and screaming "WHEEEEEEE!"

In the distance a dark shadow looms.

Cut to shot of steamroller running over bunny.

Bunny moans, barely able to lift his head.)

I can literally run 18 miles in the morning, and be flat on my back in the evening. It comes on fast and it comes on strong. One time it came on at the start line of a race. I ran the 10k anyhow, because nothing I do makes it feel better or worse (and because for some reason, I just didn't know what else to do...it didn't dawn on me not to). Another time it came on in the middle of a relay race where I had four other women counting on me to run two legs. And once I had to turn around and go home from a kayak trip...sniff.

I've been to doctors, had tests, been poked and prodded and drained of my blood with the precision of Nosferatu. But no one can tell me why this happens. It happens every 6-8 weeks. Sometimes more often. Sometimes I'll get two whole months reprieve. I can't figure out what brings it on, and nothing stops it.

So because it's related to my pancreas, I call it the Ghost of Hank haunting me...or hankreatitis for short.

Which brings me back to today...damn I feel GOOD! That whole run over with a steamroller feeling is true. It even scares my husband when I'm sick because I do go from Energizer Bunny on Speed to "someone shoot me, I'd do it myself but that would take effort".

Did not eat enough yesterday because of Hank. After work I ran and swam, as planned, but for breakfast and lunch I didn't get in what I normally eat because I was feeling so awful. Got home late, and just didn't have time to eat more than some cereal and peanut butter. So I'm making up for it today.

Kids are working hard today. I teach IT classes (Computers, Servers, and Networking). First year students are trying to solve the "Why doesn't Vista see all 4GB of the RAM I have installed" problem and come up with solutions for a customer. (It's easy, but I won't tell them that.) Second year just repaired a completely dead computer, and is now working on a projector/laptop combination for another instructor. They feel so smart when they resolve computer problems. It's very cute. Plus the instructors are SO impressed with them, which feeds their fragile teenage egos.

And I'm teasing Mike, the brother of a former student..."Why can't you be more like your brother? He never said naughty words in class!" It's all in good fun, of course.