Whipple go ahead for my brother

[Guest guest]

Hi,

A while back I posted about my brother's surgeon wanting to do a

whipple for preventative purposes...well it appears that the doctor

suspects cancerous cells behind a large polyp in his duodenum and he

can't biopsy it because he risks puncturing the duodenum, causing

all sorts of problems.

My brother and some other family members took their questions to the

surgeon yesterday. The doctor was thinking about doing a modified

Whipple and not touching the pancreas, but decided against that as

he could have problems later on, so is taking a third of his

pancreas out. He did let my brother know that there is a risk of him

developing pancreatitis after this surgery, and that there is

nothing they can do to prevent that from happening, but would make

him as comfortable as possible. He also told my brother that because

he had no previous pancreatic problems, his chances for recurrent

pancreatitis were greatly diminished. They are also removing the

gall bladder as he has a high risk for infection if that is left in.

My parents and my brother told me that they have a lot of faith in

his surgeon, he has performed many Whipples, being his main surgical

interest, and is one of the most qualified doctors in Australia to

see. Although I am living in the USA, I will be fortunate enough to

be in Australia on my holiday at the time my brother has his

surgery, so I can be there for him and his fiance who is scared to

death..so that will be one day taken up at the hospital *L*

Thanks everyone for your input earlier on when I first posted my

worries and concerns about touching something that wasn't

broken..but if it isn't touched, it seems my brother risks

cancer..so this is the better option for sure.