Ampullary Cancer

My mother was dx with ampullary cancer after a whipple procedure was performed a week ago.  Can someone give me some information on this type of cancer and/or some good websites to look at?

 Thanks!

I also had the Whipple surgery. The doctors had found a growth in my bile duct that they thought was benign, unfortunately it was not. The doctors performed the Whipple and after 8 weeks I felt almost back to normal.

I am now being treated at MD Anderson www.mdanderson.org

I haven't found much information on ampullary cancer-on the internet or in books. And what I find is very dated (even late 1990's is OLD) or too depressing. I tend to group it into pancreatic cancer. I am also seeing a Dr. who practice Natural Medicine in order to keep my immune system up. I only found out about the growth in May of 2007 and things have moved fast for me. I am undergoing chemo-pills and IV in order to hopefully prevent or discourage a reoccurrance.

 My main suggestion would be to keep digging. Send notes to webmasters on sites like this requesting specific info on ampullary cancer. I sadly joke that we don't even have a brochure on our disease-no support group or cool rubber bracelets. But it starts with someone asking.

 I have tried to stay connected to people who have gone through this (cancer) before who can really relate, people who are positive and people who are praying!

Best to your mom. Keep digging.

TNMom3

Hi

I am a 55 yr old Canadian male living and working in the Middle East. 2yrs ago I suddenly became jaundiced. I had never been ill in my life, never smoked and dont drink very much. I went to a local private hospital in Bahrain where they diagnozed me with ampullary cancer. They installed a temporary stent to relive the built up bile. I then immediatley flew home to Canada for further treatment.

The specialist I saw in Canada recommended the whipple surgery. 10 days later they did the 9 hour operation. A further 9 days later I was discharged from hospital. The surgeon did advise me that I did not need Chemo as it was his opinion that Ampullary cancer is probably the most treatable cancer of this region through surgery, in other words he was confident that they could remove it all through surgery. Through my own internet research I found that 20-25% of patients who are recovering from the whipple surgery for ampullary cancer benefit from chemo. I insisted on the chemo treatment as a precautionary step. I took oral chemo for 6 months following surgery and while taking the pills I continued to work and travel back and forth between North America and the Middle East with very little issues. The only side effect was a few painful blisters on my feet and i kept my hair.

It is now 2 yrs on and I began having issues with cramping and gas pains. I returned to the specialist who advised me that my pancreas was not producing enzymes (although it had worked fine for 18 months). He said this happens in 22-25% of post whipple cases. I am now on enzyme replacement tablets after every meal and while it has stopped the cramping etc I still suffer gas pains.

To conclude I would say that of all the bile duct/liver and panciatic cancers ampullary appears to have excellent results from surgery alone, although I would recommend adding oral chemo as a safety net.

Good luck

John