The doctor in the hospital was a jerk, who couldn't be bothered to do more than babysit. They ruled out all of the objective causes for pancreatitis (gall stones, family history, prior incidents), so the floor doctor decided that I must an alcoholic who is lying about how much I drink - since how that is not something he could verify. His plan was to keep me on IV fluids until he could justify sending me home, with no further exploration of causes.
I asked for a GI consult, which he initially denied. Little to say, that didn't go over well with me. He then, finally, did a simple manipulation to see if my gall bladder was involved (it was) and reluctantly agreed. Still - he was sure I was just lying about alcohol use. That attitude was so obvious that even my spouse (who does not do subtle) thought it was inappropriate and odd. At least twice, in her presence, he told me to just stop drinking and I'd be fine. (Since alcohol consumption that is sufficient to cause pancreatitis requires about 6-8 drinks a day for a half-dozen years, the fact that I had been in the hospital for 3 days with no withdrawal symptoms should have bought him a clue.)
The GI consult was the oddest interaction I've ever had with a doctor - but she ordered a slew of tests which gave the wonderful pancreatic/gall bladder specialist (after I was discharged) all that was needed to figure things out.
But, yes pancreatitis can be extremely painful. Mine wasn't very painful - so it took me a long time to get myself to the ER. And it's also life-threatening (it likes to shut down other organs). Our expectation is that it was a single incident and won't return. But time will tell.
I'm sorry about your sister. Battling addiction - even with a debilitiating condition that ought to discourage drinking - is tough.
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