Hello, My name is Stephan. I am 36 years old, I live in Roseville, CA with my wife of 16 years and our 7 children. On Friday August 20, 2021, I will be in San Francisco, undergoing one of the scariest procedures of my life called, Total Pancreatectomy and Islet Auto transplantation for Chronic Pancreatitis and Pancreas Divisum. This surgery is also known as TPait, which is the removal of the entire pancreas and spleen. UCSF is the only institution west of the Mississippi to offer islet auto-transplantation as a way to minimize diabetes after pancreatectomy. The surgery will be performed by Dr. Andrew Posselt and will take between 5-8 hours. I will stay in their ICU and be hospitalized between 4-6 weeks depending on my recovery. There is a 50/50 chance I may still end up with permanent diabetes, requiring insulin shots or use of a insulin pump for the rest of my life. Regardless, This surgery is going to be life changing. For the past two years I have suffered from acute and chronic pancreatitis. It is a disease that has caused indescribable pain, requires 24/7 pain management and severely impairs my quality of life. I have been hospitalized dozens of times, and had several procedures such as ERCP stent placements and a pancreatic celiac plexus nerve blocks that failed to relieve my symptoms. I haven’t been able to work for months due to the pain, nausea and constant fatigue. Those who know me, know the kind of husband and father I am, Not only has my life been impacted but my family’s has too. I’m being given an opportunity to LIVE a life without pain. The future will look brighter, I can be the husband and father I'm meant to be. I just worry about my wife and kids while I'm in the hospital. I realized I needed to set my pride aside and create this gofund me campaign to help raise money to help make ends meet while I'm away with bills, food etc for the house and for all the unexpected medical expenses, the car rental, hotel stay before surgery, tolls, parking, and gas, with all the back & forth to UCSF they'll be doing over the next month. Anything helps, but please don't feel obligated. If you could just keep my family and I in your prayers, that's appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read this. God Bless.
Stephan Winrow

*if you prefer venmo: @DaddyWinrow or CashApp: $StephanWinrow