My husband had whipple procedure just under 2 years ago.... For non cancerous cells, (off which he was told would have turned to pancreatic cancer eventually) overall he's fine, back to a normal life!!, however he has weeks where he feels great, then gets stomach ache which lasts weeks, he's on creon. When he gets these stomach aches he has tried upping his creon dose in case this is the problem but this only then makes him constipated. He can't drink milk anymore that really upsets his stomach... His eating habits haven't changed.... Anyone shed any light... Cheers
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steffy12
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Hi I have just been told that I have pancreatic cancer, can you explain what the whipple procedure is please, my consultant in North Wales has asked the Pancreatic centre in Liverpool to look at my scans as the are far more experienced if surgery was required, I should find out Wednesday what their plan of treatment is.
I was Diagnosed 18 months ago and had the Whipples procedure.
Basically its a relatively big procedure where they will take away your Gall bladder, common bile duct , the head of the pancreas , the duodenum and some intestines.
They will then connect up what is left there.
Afterwards you will spend a week or two in hospital and in all honesty have a long recovery. I have to take Creon tablets (enzyme replacement) with each meal which becomes like second nature
This is obviously from my experience others recover quicker than others from what I have been told ( I was 33 when diagnosed and in relatively good health)
It is honestly not as scary as it sounds and the support I have had from others who have had this horrible disease and Mcmillan support has been amazing.
Thanks very much Tim, its really good to get info from someone who has gone through these procedures, the only difference with me would be I had my gall bladder removed when I was 22 im 57 now, hope you are keeping well, did you need any radiation or chemo after.
Hi.... It's good days and bad days.... For me... It has been one year and 8 months since the whipple and I feel relatively good... I don't use that enzyme ... I use a plant based enzyme and I do very well with it... It's a life style change... I found milk and sugar affects me... Raw salads I can eat once in a while... Haven't lost any more weight which is good... Just happy to be alive... I was stage 2 B cancer... I did chemo only... So far it hasn't returned God willing... Hope this helps or sheds some light
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