Karen Moir
This story is part of the Guts UK Pancreatitis Awareness Campaign.
Karen Moir’s Story as told by husband Richard Moir
On December the 14th 2017, Karen went to hospital to have a reasonably simple procedure carried out to remove some troublesome gall stones. Unfortunately, she became quite ill overnight and she returned to the hospital the following day in extreme pain. She was admitted to hospital, diagnosed with pancreatitis, and her health subsequently deteriorated daily until she was operated on 3 times in 6 days in January 2018 to removed her large bowel. During her recovery she also suffered a stroke severely impacting her left side and leaving her with little, to no, movement in both her leg and arm.
Karen’s complex condition continued through 2018 until she was eventually transferred to a different hospital in November. We really hoped the specialist team there would help repair the fistula in her small bowel to allow some focus on her stroke recovery which had been hampered due to the complications with her post op recovery and the impact of pancreatitis. She went through another major operation on 12th December and never really recovered, suffering internal bleeding and a massive cardiac arrest towards the end of December.
She passed away on the 18th of January, ironically her 400th day in hospital.
Having spent 396 of those days at her side and had many, many conversations with NHS consultants, nurses, family and work colleagues I was genuinely surprised by the lack of understanding of pancreatitis, how it can be treated and what is being done to raise awareness of this desperately debilitating condition.
Having done some research I was delighted to find that Guts UK is doing exactly that, hence the donation was made in memory of Karen.
What you can do:
Join our community, champion our cause and help us fight pancreatitis. If you’re feeling inspired but don’t know how best you can help, read some fundraising ideas here or contact team Guts UK today – we’d be delighted to lend a hand.
