Re: pending surgery

[Guest guest]

Hello -

As you know, I am facing surgery 11/22 with Dr. Nakeeb at the IU Med Ctr. I

talked to Dr. Lehman on the phone on Thursday. He gave me some options.

I got a call from Dr. Lehman at the IU Med Ctr. He answered some questions for

me. One was about the type of surgery. There are two options. The Whipple is

the most invasive. The Puestow is still invasive, but has less chances of

complications due to not having any of the pancreas cut out. Both are the same

as far as recovery time - LONG. He recommends the Puestow, but the surgeon won't

be able to decide until he sees the cat scan I have done 11/22. For the Puestow

surgery to be done, the duct must be open approx. 8 mm. Mine was 6 mm.

Dr. Lehman told me to stop taking the sandostatin shot (I was due to have one

next Friday). That was the pancreas duct will develop pressure due to the

back-up of pancreatic juices. That will cause the duct to expand and then maybe

it will be large enough for the Puestow. The Puestow basically " filet " the

pancreas duct, then the small intestine is cut, and a part of it is attached

OVER the length of the duct, making a new duct. It will then dump from the rear

end of the pancreas into the small intestines.

It is risky to stop the drug because then I am subject to an attack. I can't

have the surgery if I am having an attack - great catch 22 to be in! I chose to

stop the drug to try and see if the duct can " swell " bigger for the Puestow.

I'll start vitamin water/smart water when I get home and basically live on that

until surgery.

Any thoughts from any of you? Have any of you had the Puestow - can you share

your experiences - good and bad?

Thanks.

Cecilia

Mesa, AZ