@Tak :xmashug: I’m sorry to hear about your brother, it sounds like he’s stable enough to be home which is good news.
I obviously can’t speak for your family, but I know with my family when stuff happens medically (mostly with my grandparents) my brother is typically the last to know. The main reason is because we all get hyper focused on the situation at hand. We get all the info we can before making calls so we don’t potentially worry him for seemingly nothing. Also with him no longer living at home alphabetically he’s lower on the call list in our phones. O_O; I try to make a point to let him know things ASAP now that I’m back home and primarily the caregiver in the house but it does honestly slip my mind sometimes.
As far as pancreatitis is concerned it is typically caused by having a diet consisting of higher fatty foods. This can cause the pancreas unable to properly process sugars and basically make a fat layer in and around it. (This is why it’s SO common in dogs, especially around holidays when owners feed more people food to them.) Good news is, it sounds like he may of had an acute attack which can come on suddenly and with no “reason.” It’s typically treated with diet change and occasionally medications and close monitoring for awhile. If he’s a smoker, eats higher fat content foods, doesn’t drink enough water he will likely be told to make some lifestyle changes.