Help! I need some serious advice.

[Guest guest]

I met with the surgeon today and he said I should choose between a

sphincteroplasty or a whipple for treatment of my pain. The

sphincteroplasty is less invasive, safer but has about a 40%

efficacy. The whipple, well thats a biggie, but has about an 80-90%

efficacy. I just dont know; any advice anybody can offer would be

welcomed.

Thanks,

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I have a congenital defect to the duct (pancreas divisum) and

suffered from acute attacks for 4 years before diagnosis in Nov

of '01. I tried stents with no success and was still suffering from

attacks. My last resort----the sphincteroplasty which was done in

Aug of '02. Since then I still suffer attacks and I'm now chronic,

but........the attacks are getting longer apart (from 8 weeks to 15

weeks) I still suffer some pain but there are more good days than

bad and I have medicine to help. It's tough too, 'cause I'm a middle

school PE teacher who loves her job. But I'm not giving up! I'm

satisfied with the surgery because I knew the odds and I guess time

will truly tell how successful the surgery was. My downtime was

around 6 weeks and they cut a wicked scar from your breastbone

straight down past your navel. Other than the general soreness that

accompanies surgeries, the biggest hassle to me was the god awful

tube down my nose for a few days. I wish you luck in your decision

and am happy to answer any other questions you might have about the

surgery.

Judy

Wakefield, VA

> I met with the surgeon today and he said I should choose between a

> sphincteroplasty or a whipple for treatment of my pain. The

> sphincteroplasty is less invasive, safer but has about a 40%

> efficacy. The whipple, well thats a biggie, but has about an 80-

90%

> efficacy. I just dont know; any advice anybody can offer would be

> welcomed.

> Thanks,

>