📣 Discussion Topic: Introduce yourselves and share a little bit about who you are!

[Skye_MC]

Hello, cranky panky warriors 👋 The group's been quiet this week! I hope everyone's doing well and has fun plans for the weekend 😊 We have some new group members, so I wanted to give everyone an opportunity to introduce themselves and share a little bit about who you are.

Remember to protect your anonymity, but feel free to let us know a bit about your journey with pancreatitis, what you enjoy doing in your free time, share any pics of your pets you may have, etc. Use this as an opportunity for us to get to know each other better!

I was also thinking, should this become a regular thing? Would you all like the opportunity to introduce and re-introduce yourselves every couple of months? Let me know what you think!

[Skye_MC Administrator]

And I'll also go first! My name is Skye, and I am the Creative Communications Manager at Mission: Cure. For those who may not know, we're a nonprofit dedicated to accelerating research and treatments for pancreatitis, with the goal of finding a cure, and we help run this support group!

I came to be a part of our wonderful team 7 months ago after I spent four-ish years as a graphic designer/marketing assistant intern-turned-employee at a web design agency. I'm passionate about helping nonprofits + people, which is why I wanted to transition to an in-house nonprofit role.

I have two amazing dogs, Ophelia and Toby. They're both sleeping on the couch as I'm writing this 🥰 Some other things about me: I collect vinyl, I'm lefthanded, and my favorite color is yellow. It's nice to meet you all! 💙

Black mini poodle napping on a yellow couch

[Jackie1947]

Hi I'm JoJo I'm a young at heart pensioner. Married with 3 beautiful granddaughters. This cranky panky is new to me if having Rhuemtoid Arthritis isn't enough . I was amongst others things a support worker for people with severe leaning difficulties. Challenging but never dull. I used to rock climb,abseil and caving. I nearly forgot a tap dancer. I was also a dresser for 23 years doing more musical theatre than I can remember. Being a pensioner I've done my bit .Nice to meet you all

[Skye_MC Administrator in reply to Jackie1947]

Nice to meet you JoJo! What a full life! I just started indoor rock climbing, so you'll have to give me some tips haha. Thank you for sharing!

[Jackie1947 in reply to Skye_MC]

I did real rocks 😀

[madonbrew Pioneer]

Hi, I'm Dee. I've been a bit quiet here lately. Life's been a bit manic. But I'm learning to play the piano and am starting another writing course next week. I've just finished writing a book...basically my story, and am hoping to get it published! Hopefully my writing teacher will point me in the right direction for the next steps towards publication.

Health wise, I'm going through a challenging patch. My IgG4 levels are getting too high,and I had a severe reaction to my Rituximab infusion, so now my consultant is going to try Methotrexate, which is a chemo drug. On the positive side, he's also referring me to the 'difficult asthma clinic ' 🙃 because I'm on crazy meds for that and he thinks the Ritux triggered a severe asthma attack. He's also going to do another scan of my lungs to check if my IgG4 disease is affecting them.

Diabetes wise, things are feeling disastrous. My HbA1c has jumped dramatically recently...which could potentially be a result of 2x IV predisolone because of my Ritux reaction, but might also be because of my eating disorder and not doing very well on that front. Pancreatitis wise...I just bob along...the diabetes is what seems to cause me the biggest issue atm.

The sun 🌞 had at last turned up here for a while, so that's lovely, and I'm taking my parents...whom I care for, on holiday in July.

I'll try and pop by more often again!

Take care 🙂

Dee