Re: Help Needed..re Whipple for my Brother

[Guest guest]

Thanks Mark,

That's what I think also, and I am going to give my questions about

the matter to my mother who will be going in with my brother when

they see the doctor next..

[Guest guest]

:

I want to make sure I understand your correctly so I may not be

exactly answering the question you are asking. I am not sure.

I am assuming that your brother does not and has not had

pancreatitis yet correct? If he has not had any pancreatitis yet,

then I cannot even IMAGINE this doctor recommending a procedure as

serious as a whipple for something that may or may not happen! Just

because there is hereditary pancreatitis in the family does not mean

he will get it. Under no circumstances should he have this operation

because he " might " get pancreatitis.

If he has had an attack of pancreatitis in the past but is stable,

no way should he have this surgery. I have never ever heard of

anyone recommending a whipple for preventative surgery for

pancreatitis! Even if that were a standard of care and he had the

surgery, that still would not guarantee no pancreatitis.

If he has had bouts of pancreatitis and is stable in between then I

also can't figure why any doctor would recommend a whipple. I am

not sure about the problem with the polyps but to my knowledge the

polyps have nothing to do with the pancreatitis. I do not know the

treatment for these kinds of polyps but whatever treatment he would

have would still have nothing to do with the pancreas.

As Mark and others have said, surgery on the pancreas is a very

serious thing and should NEVER EVER be taken lightly. I am

concerned about the trend that seems to be happening as far as

doctors recommending surgery on the pancreas in its very early

stages. I had a surgeon one time who was going to put in my porta-

cath and recommended a Peustow procedure so that I could bypass

having TPN. I told him very quickly what I thought of his idea. A

radical horrendous surgery just to (in his opinion) be able to not

have to have TPN! I let him know in no uncertain terms this was not

acceptable and the only thing I came to him for was to have a port

inserted and that is what I intended to leave the operating room

with..........a Port-A-Cath!

Sometimes .............. in a majority of cases, these doctors

recommend these procedures having no idea whether or not they will

help. Then when they don't help or make things worse, they tell you

that that was just the risk that you take.

As you can tell I have a strong opinion on surgery of the pancreas.

When I first became ill, the first ER doc that I dealt with told me

in no uncertain terms that if anyone wanted to cut on my pancreas to

turn and go the other way as quickly as possible.

I do believe that there are folks who can be helped by some of the

pancreatic surgeries i.e. the whipple, the Peustow procedure and

even the total pancreatectomy and islet cell transplant but not

everyone and possibly a lower percentage of folks than we think.

These surgeries should be considered only after every other means

has been exhausted and all the risks versus benefits researched

thoroughly over and over and over again. As we all know, even the

ERCP can be and is a very dangerous procedure and more so if the

pancreas is already in trouble.

I did not mean to ramble, but in light of the recent " push " for

pancreatic surgery as a first line of treatment, I feel this had to

be said. I am concerned that folks who are new to this disease are

receiving information that pancreatic surgery, pancreatectomy and

islet cell transplant are the " first line of treatment " and they are

not by any means.

I hoped this has helped and has not discouraged because that was not

the intention at all.

God bless and good luck to your brother.

Kaye Fortenberry, NC

- In pancreatitis , " dcward108 " <dceward@e...> wrote:

> Hi,

>

> My brother is in a dilemma at the moment.Please note that he

doesn't

> suffer from pancreatitis at the moment, but due to our hereditary

> illness, his doctor wants to perform a Whipple procedure as a

> precautionary measure. He has many polyps in his duodenum that are

> in Moderate Displaysia (2 steps away from being Cancerous). To me

> this is a bit premature, as I was set for this surgery or similar

> when only 1 step from cancer...anyway..what I am concerned about

is

> that if he goes ahead with the Whipple, does anyone know if he is

at

> a strong risk of suffering pancreatitis with this procedure being

> the cause...

>

> In a nutshell, I am worried that this will bring on pancreatitis,

> and that his doctor is just being too cautious..Has anyone

suffered

> pancreatitis due to a Whipple being the only cause?

>

> Thanks,

>