Wipple Procedure

My husband just had the Wipple Prodedure done in Aug 2005. The mass was precancer but he will have to be screened for the rest of his life. He is now 4 weeks into recovery. He is depressed and has lost 20 pounds. He can not sleep and is starting with muscle spasms due to his bad nutrition. He tries to eat but the pain that follows scares him to try and eat again. He had the sugery done at UCLA which we were grateful for but we were sent home with no real instructions. He was given no restrictions on diet or how to handle what may happen during recovery. We too heard the 3 month recovery. He was told he can return to work 6 weeks after surgery or before if he has the energy. I cannot see this happening. I refuse to let him suffer without help. I have found this site and I am thankful to read about the experiences of others. He is 56 years young and played soccer 3 times a week prior to surgery. I am determined to see him get his active-life style back. Caregivers, any help will be greatly appreciated.

I had a wipple procedure done in 2002 and it took 9 months for all of the achiness and pain in my abdomen to go away, and I was only 37. I thought it never would, but it eventually did. It helped me to have small meals and a healthy diet. I learned that my digestive system could no longer handle a lot of sugar, fatty foods or dairy products. Healing from a big surgery like that is a slow process and you have to be patient and not overdo it. I hope your husband is feeling better.

Hi,
I had a Whipple 4 years ago and still have pain at times. I was prescribed with a pill called Prontix which helped alot. I also use a heating pad at times when my stomach isn't feeling just right, which helps a little. I was 54 at the time of the surgery and still have problems with eating certain things, fruit like watermellon, cranberries really bother me.
I don't know if it is because of the surgery or just age, but I don't have the stamina that I use to have. But all in all I am doing pretty well.

From one caregiver to another, it is absolutly a living nightmare to watch a spouse go thru this. Fortunately we had some good support from Nurses and Doctors. My husband biggest problem is hiccups.
He has had them for 3 months now. I do have some suggestions for your husbands diet. I make soft tasty meals. What you might call comfort food. For snacks and nutrition we use yougart, pudding cups, jello, fresh fruit cut up small. I make him a shake with a couple scoops of ice cream and a banana. He also takes boost and a 1 a day vitamin with iron.
I have read a lot of these letters and happily my husband never had all this pain after. Or nausua.
His problem is the hiccups and draining. We were told from the beginning that it would take a long time to recover. So we mentally adjusted for that.
I found that what worked for me was to block everyone and everything from my mind and to concentrate on him. I know at times you are caught between crying for his pain and frustration for what you have to do but thats when I tell myself that he is still here and he is cancer free.
I just found this Web site and hope by now your husband is feeling much better.
We also use a hunt and peck method. When he was diagnosed I asked my DR for some valium for me. I found that by giving that to him now he sleeps peacefully thru the night! except for hiccups.

Thanks for the response. My husband is doing much better. He is actually doing better than either one of us thought he would at this point. It is me who is now have the post-trama syndrome. I am on meds from the Dr to calm down and do exactly what you said: concentrate on him/us and count our blessings. His biggest issue is sleep. So if he can't sleep, his tossing and turning keeps me awake. Almost ready for separate beds. (=:

Hello,

You are very lucky t still have your husband after the surgery. My husband, 67 years old, underwent the surgery on Mov. 29, 2005. He was a good candidate for it, the cancer was localized as the surgeon had thought and he was strong and healthy otherwise. The only symptom he had was the jaundice which led us to go to the emergency room as we thought it might be heppatitis perhaps contracted during our recent vacation in Croatia. Unfortunately, after various tests it was confirmed that it was cancer of the bile duct. he underwent the surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering hospital in NYC with a top surgeon there. The surgery was very successful in removing the tumor completely and the surgeon was extremely happy with the outcome of a the surgery which lasted 6 hours. However, on the 4th day after surgery my husband passed away from a massive pulmonary embolus. This was all so quick and we were only married 7 years it is a nightmare for me and I am finding it very difficult to accept and to understand why a hospital with such a great reputation and specialized in this type of surgery did not understand the symptons he was having on his last day as the formation of a blood clot. Enjoy every day you have with your husband I understand the recovery is slow and perhaps painful but I understand that it can be a complete recovery and he can have a totally normal life. That's what we were told and were hoping for. All the best.
Cristina

Dear Cristina:
I am so very sorry about your husband. Yes we count our blessings daily. I know at the hospital we were in Milwaukee they took a lot of measures to guard against blood clots. It was bad enough that the dye from the initial endoscopy leaked on and destroyed his pancreas making us wait a month longer for the surgrey a second time. I still wonder how that happened. Today for the first time in 6 months he went to Mass and for breakfast and is now fast asleep from that. We have been told from 4 DR that the recovery is so very long. He has finally gone 3 days without hiccups and maybe at the end of this month can have the 2 tubes yet in his stomach, taken out. And yes its hard but to have him here is worth going thru all of it. We have only been married 11 years and I know I would miss him terribly. Be strong and we wish you the very best.

I wish you and your husband all the best and a wonderful recovery. I am sure he will make it and soon this will all seem like a distant nightmare. Enjoy your time together.
Cristina

My dad had the whipple procedure in june 2005. How long were you experiencing pain? He is now on his 8 month and is in constant pain. He just had an endoscopy and a pet/ct scan and they found nothing wrong. He was just transferred to UCSF (san francisco). It helps to hear from people who have experienced this. Thanks and hope you are doing well

I had a Whipple 4 years ago, and am doing pretty well. I am not the same person as I was before, but pretty close. I was in the hospital 1 month and stayed out of work for 8 weeks after. I had 8 weeks of radiation and two month chemo. I work in an office so I do not do heavy lifting etc. I was very tired for the first couple of weeks and would go and lay down at lunch time and if needed at break. You must just do what your body tells you to do. If your tired lay down and rest. Eat what you can .
When I came home I was put on these high protein drinks that my husband got at a body building place. Since I couldn't eat very much I had to drink these drinks, slowly I started to eat small amounts of food. It is awfully hard to force yourself to eat. I think your body will tell you what you need. Best wishes to you and I hope he feels better soon!