Phoebe Rowe, from Leamington Spa, had four litres of brown fluid drained from her stomach by Spanish doctors after discovering 90 percent of her vital organ had died
A hairdresser’s romantic island getaway turned into the holiday from hell when she discovered her “UTI pains” were caused by the death of her pancreas.
Phoebe Rowe was five days into her Tenerife holiday with 25-year-old partner Ryan Butler when she began experiencing tummy pains. The 22-year-old had been hospitalised with a urine infection four months prior, and believed her symptoms had returned. Phoebe, who lives in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, decided to combat her symptoms with over-the-counter painkillers, so that she could continue enjoying the Canary Island holiday.
But when she woke up the following day vomiting with excruciating stomach pain, Phoebe rushed to a hospital where she was told she had pancreatitis – a serious condition where the pancreas becomes inflamed over a short period of time. Doctors on the island soon discovered Phoebe was fighting severe necrotic pancreatitis – as 90 percent of the vital organ had died.
Phoebe was sent to intensive care where hospital staff drained four litres of toxic fluid that had dispersed from her pancreas. Her loved ones were told she may not survive, with doctors describing her as a “walking miracle” when her symptoms began to improve. After three weeks in intensive care while still abroad, Phoebe was able to return to the UK, but must take medication for the rest of her life.
Phoebe said: “The holiday was something we’d both been looking forward to for a while. We were five days into the holiday and I started having this tummy ache. We went to the local pharmacy and got some painkillers. I kind of brushed it off. Then the next day I woke up with extreme pain, vomiting and had a temperature.
“I thought it was another urine infection. We were going home the next day so thought I could go to the hospital when I was back home. But throughout the day, the pain was just getting worse and worse. I couldn’t keep any water down so I was getting severely dehydrated.
“I remember looking in the mirror and my tummy just looked rock hard.” After attending the local hospital, Phoebe was immediately rushed to a larger hospital on the island where she was told she was suffering with pancreatitis. Phoebe said: “I was told I was severely dehydrated and on the verge of sepsis. I just kind of went into shock. I was surrounded by 10 nurses not really knowing what was going on.
“I didn’t know what pancreatitis was. I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink and had a tube in my neck. I didn’t know at the time but my pancreas was expressing toxic fluids and had gone into my lungs and kidneys which was causing my kidneys to fail. I was on dialysis which was basically working my kidneys and on oxygen to remove the fluid from my lungs. I was knocked out on painkillers for the first four or five days.”
After doctors discovered Phoebe’s pancreatitis was severely necrotic, her mum and partner were told the devastating news that she may not survive. Phoebe said: “They told my mum and partner I wasn’t progressing well. They also said if I’d have flown home, it would have been life threatening and also if I had waited 2 days later [to get to a] UK hospital when I was home I could have not made it.
“I didn’t realise how poorly I was until I started coming around a bit. They told me 90 per cent of my pancreas was necrotic, so it was dead. I didn’t know I might not make it until after I was out of ICU. I didn’t know I was dying. I was more worried about my parents and Ryan worrying about me.”
Phoebe believes she may have been unknowingly suffering with pancreatitis for months after complaining to doctors over changes in her bowel habits the year before. At the time, Phoebe was diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease but believes this may have actually been a symptom of necrotising pancreatitis.
She has heaped praise on the Spanish doctors who drained four litres of brown, toxic fluid from her stomach, saying hospital staff who helped her through the ordeal were “amazing”. Phoebe said: “[Doctors] told me they couldn’t exactly see how much of the pancreas there was but said whatever is there is working really well and I’m very lucky.
“It really turned into a holiday from hell. I couldn’t fault the care in Spain, all the hospital staff were amazing and completely saved my life. They called me a walking miracle. The main thing I would stress is any change in your body, push for answers. I wish I had when I first started getting symptoms.”