Whipple

[Guest guest]

Hi -

I am getting ready to schedule my whipple procedure. I have a question,

though. It seems that in past posts, people have shared that if one has the

whipple procedure done, then he/she can not be a candidate for the TP later on.

Is

that true? If so, why not?

Cecilia

Mesa, AZ

[Guest guest]

Ruby,

somehow I missed the story of what happened with Floyd. My father's name is

Floyd and it is a name you don't hear that often. I am so sorry for your loss.

I thought I would share a story of a woman that was my co-worker. This happened

not long after I'd had my first attack of acute panc back in Jan 2000. She had

essentially emergency surgery for a tumor on her pancreas. I think she was fine

one day and then just had terrible pain the next. The word at work was that

they removed the tumor, it came back as non-malignant, and she was doing fine.

She was only out of work for just a few weeks. She wasn't back long though

before she was back in the hospital. The story we heard was that it ends up

that the pathology report did show cancer in the tumor but the doctor gave her

and her husband wrong information. When she was put back in the hospital,

that's when she and her husband learned that they had found cancer in the

original surgery. She didn't last very long after she was put back in the

hospital. The last that I heard anything (which was shortly after she died),

the husband was talking to an attorney about a lawsuit because the doctor had

failed to give them accurate info. I have no idea what came of it all.

It is very scary to think that the doctors don't give you all the facts and we

are used to just trusting them. However, your story has convinced me that I

need to remain diligent in asking for copies of all test results and such just

to make sure I know what I need to know about the status of my health.

thank you for sharing your story. It may end up saving someone's life.

W

[Guest guest]

good evening -

I have my whipple surgery at IU Med Center scheduled. I will have my ct scan

on Monday, Nov 22, have the pre-op consult on Tuesday, Nov 23 along with all

the other tests i.e. lab, ekg. and will have surgery on Wednesday Nov. 24 -

the day before Thanksgiving. I figured I can't eat anyway, so I might as well

have surgery.

Several of you have posted, so I will respond to you.

Thanks, Fliss, for the site for those who have had or are contemplating

whipple procedures.

Chrissy - I decided to do the surgery at Thanksgiving and Christmas because I

only have three weeks sick days stored and in education I'll have days off at

Thanksgiving and two weeks at Christmas.

I do understand that i might not be ready to go back to work in January, and

I'll certainly the ALL the time I need.

Thank-you all for helping me be realistic about recovery time.

My surgeon has said that I won't have to lose any of my stomach or my spleen,

so I am happy about that.

Yes, Chrissy, the octreotide works well for me. I am very glad I am taking

it.

I guess one reason I decided to have the surgery now is I can tell my duct is

closing. Someone posted that it is considered closed at 3 mm. Mine was 6 mm

in April and Dr. Lehman could only get one stent in to stretch it to 7mm. In

July it had already stenosised (not a word, I am sure but you know what I

mean) back to 6mm again. W had such good luck and he was able to get the

stents in to stretch to the 20mm he said was necessary for the pancreas to

function without damage/attacks.

He said he would have to stent my duct every month for a year. I just can't

see having an ERCP every month, so I'll try the surgery.

Maybe I'll get to meet some of you Indy folks while I am in the hospital.

Cecilia

Mesa, AZ

[Guest guest]

Kris -

Dr. Lehman doesn't do surgeries, so he referred me to one of his colleagues -

Dr. Attila Nakeeb who is a general surgeon, focusing on pancreatic surgeries.

I hope you are doing well today.

Cecilia

Mesa,AZ

[Guest guest]

Welcome home Cecilia, I know a little about what an experience you have had

and I can only suggest you take it easy and recover fully. I admire you for

even being able to go from Indy to Phonix at this time so soon after you

surgery.

Keep the water level up.

Best Wishes, Poncho - GA

[Guest guest]

Deedee,

You wrote, " Has anyone had a Whipple surgery done. Were fixing to set a date

on when Kristy will get this done tomorrow. And just curious on does it

work? "

Several members have undergone a Whipple. It very much depends on the timing

of the surgery in regard to when you were diagnosed, i.e., how much damage

has already occurred. I encourage you to read member's stories at:

_http://pancassociation.org/storieshome.html_

(http://pancassociation.org/storieshome.html) They are also subcategorized by

the type of surgery, etc. That way you

can read stories of people who have had Whipple.

Keeping you in thought & prayer,

Karyn E. , RN,

Exec. Director PAI / 1-

KarynWms@...

http://www.pancassociation.org