Help! My dad had a whipple in May

My dad had a whipple in May and he is so incredibley weak, he shakes all the time and the worst part is he can't sleep. How are you suppose to recover if you can't sleep and he also has trouble with nausea, so he continues to loose weight. Everytime I see him he's thinner and weaker. Last weak was the end of his 7th week of chemo. He is starting radiation next weak. It scares me when I see how weak he is. He has allways been healthy and never smoked or drank heavily and allways worked out. It just doesn't seem fair. I am so angry at this disease. They have him on prosac, and he has tried several different sleeping pills. He is 76 and he did have it in 10 of his lymphnodes.  I know he is a miracl even being able to have a whipple, it just seems hard to believe that when it's four months later and he is still just a miserable as he was before. 

I would appreciate anyones feedback especially someone his age. We have people to talk to who are much younger that had a whipple. I desperately am looking for some hope!

Thanks Cherylynne

I am very sorry to hear what your father is going through.  My father is experiencing the same thing.  He is 81 years old and had a whipple on May 31st.  He has been so weak and slow to recover, that his oncologist refuses to begin any chemotherapy or radiation at this point and states he's at least a month out from being able to do that (assuming there are no setbacks).  All the while, Dad's CA19-9 count continues to climb at a fast rate.  (He had lymph node involvement, positive margins - at Stage III post surgery.)

My dad's surgeon told us that a whipple is difficult for a person in their 30s to recover from, so someone our fathers' age is in for a long, difficult recovery period.

 I don't really have any words of encouragement other than to say you're not alone and that the good thing is that at least your Dad is able to receive some chemo at this point.  That's truly a blessing!

 You will be in my thoughts!

Thank you for responding to my message. My father went terribly down hill after chemo.  From what I have heard it makes the cancer fight harder. I have such mixed emotions about it. He was doing great and bounced right back after whipple, but when he started chemo he went down hill so fast. He passed away on Oct. 2. It is the worst thing I have ever witnessed. A fabulous org. I found out about too late is the peoples fight against cancer in N.Y. They are a non-profit org. of metatized cancer survivors who have been affected and sent home to die. They are into alternative therapies. It is quite interestin. I highly recommend calling them. If I had to do it over again I would not want my dad to do chemo.

We have to fight to find a cure and early detection of this disease . My husband and I have joined the Joseph Manastra foundation and are doing a golf tournament in Atlanta on Monday Oct. 29th. If any wants more info. send me a message. Good Luck with your dad.

Cherylynne