Intro to the group

Hi, ya'll. I am a 59 yr old Grandma and I have been on quite a journey over the past few months. Started on 9/23/13 with violent nausea and vomiting. I thought I had caught the stomach bug the grandkids had a few days before. By the next morning my sons ganged up on me and convinced me I needed to go to the ER. My Lipase numbers were thru the roof! Diagnosed with severe acute pancreatitis and was admitted to ICU. In time it became necrotizing pancreatitis. I came close to losing the battle a couple of times. Actually had one Dr tell me she had never seen a patient in my condition survive. But I beat the odds. It took most of 3 months in hospitals and being transferred to a bigger hospital several hundred miles away from home but I started getting better. There are NO docs in my city who specialize in the pancreas and the gastros here simply couldn't handle it. I had(have) a pseudocyst that was the size of a large grapefruit. Finally the fifth drain they inserted was productive and finally started turning things around, I have been back home now for almost 3 weeks and for the most part things are going well. I lost 50lbs in the hospital, which still leaves me considerably over my 'ideal' weight. But I am holding my own now, am able to eat as long as I watch the fat. Occasional nausea but not much. I was prescribed Creon but honestly I can't tell if it does anything at all. I feel the same whether I take it or not. I don't seem to feel any distress when I eat, even without the Creon. My main issues not are dealing with the incredible weakness. I have worked up to being able to walk around the house but that's about it. Tire very easily. And the pain. I don't know what "typical" pancreatitis pain is but what I am dealing with is sharp pains up under my ribcage whenever I take a deep breath. It is better than when I was acute. I could only pant with shallow breaths then. Now it only hurts when I sneeze, cough, yawn, or just want to take a deep cleansing breath. And since those things come up a hundred times a day, yeah, the pain is very much with me. They gave me IV Dilaudid  in  the hospital. Now they are giving me Norco, which is just hydrocodone. Might as well give me M&Ms for all they work! Having trouble convincing the Dr I have real pain that needs to be addressed.
But on the flip side, I have learned just how many people care for me and I know without the love and support and prayers I have been surrounded with I simply would not have made it. I usually try to be grateful and appreciative of my blessings. Just some days are discouraging. When I first came home I could see the progress I was making every day! Now I feel I have hit a plateau, even slid back some. I know it is to be expected. You don't recover from being deathly ill for 3 months in just a few weeks. But I want my life back! I want to be able to do for myself, be able to go to the store, do the laundry, fix a meal. I can do one of those things but then I have to rest for the rest of the day to regain my strength.
And there is no telling what the future holds. I know at some time when the Dr determines I am a candidate for surgery I will need the gallbladder removed and a very large hernia repaired. But whether I will suffer recurrances of the pancreatitis is unknown, tho likely. Will I ever be "normal" again? Will I ever be able to be employed again? How much of my pancreas is still alive and functioning? Will I become a T1 diabetic from the destruction of the islets? All questions I have no answers to yet.
I am looking forward to participating in this support forum. Noone can answer questions like someone who has walked in your shoes. Hope to get to know some other members soon