I had the Whipple in July, 2006. I was 67 at the time (female). My health had been deteriorating for years, but my problem was found during screening for spine surgery in a better hospital in a larger city. My liver enzymes were out of sight along with all the other things that point to pancreatic cancer. Needless to say, the back surgery was scrapped, and every test available was run on me. Since everything pointed to pancreatic cancer, my Whipple was scheduled for 2 weeks later, by a very good, reputable doctor. Long story short, the post whipple diagnosis was cysts and precancer cells in about every organ including my liver. He removed what he had to, which was a lot including half my stomach and pancreas. I was in the hospital 9 days and sent home. A month later I was admitted into the local hospital with a 104 temperature which turned out to be sepsis (blood poisoning), a very dangerous thing. I was in the hospital for 8 days with that, and probably the sickest I've ever been in my entire life. They were never sure where it originated but my incision was thought to be the culprit.
As for recovery from the whipple, it's been 13 months. I agree with the poster who said it takes forever to recover from whipple (I can only speak for myself, because some seem to do very well after whipple. It's a whole different life with a lot of pain in my whole stomach area, I have to be very careful about what and how much I eat, I'm lactose intolerant, have trouble controlling the passing of foul smelling , noisy air (so very embarrassing since I never know when it's coming), and have frequent bouts of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea that lasts for days. Going to the grocery store for a few items depletes me of energy. I have to lie down and rest several times a day. Like another poster, I've been told the digestive problems will probably be for life. I HAVE to take 3 different enzymes before or during every mini meal, which is 6 or 7 times a day.
As someone said before, your recovery may go very well since everyone is different. I would suspect age plays a big part in it also. Even knowing how my life has been since the Whipple, I would make the same choice if given the alternatives I was given.