Whipples Operation

My partner had a operation over 4 years ago to remove a tuma (which was non-cancerous) to his pancreas, his operation lasted 12 hours and then had had to have another a day later which lasted another 6 hours as he had internal bleading.

He has since become a insuline dependant diabetic, injecting 4 times daily.  He continues to have a high amount of bloating, diahorea, he takes creon 3 times daily, which binds his food together and helps him to digest it, but it experiencing jaundice and bloatedness which in turn hurts his scar and causes more pain.

His ankles, feet and legs also swell up and his eyes are yellow.

More scans and various tests have reported no more problems and the surgeon his happy with the operation, which he says was a sucess and says that the abdomonial pain will be caused by muscle tissue and the scar addesions taking up to 10 years to heal and some scar tissue which will never heal, he has offered to re-open him up to address these addessions, but has said that there is no guarantee that it will make himbetter, if not worse.

Has anyone else experienced such bloatedness and swelling and jaundice, if so he will appreciate the comments as it gets him down and is now suffering from depression and anxiety because of this.

Kind Regards

Justine

 

On 6/25/2009 Justine12373 wrote:

My partner had a operation over 4 years ago to remove a tuma (which was non-cancerous) to his pancreas, his operation lasted 12 hours and then had had to have another a day later which lasted another 6 hours as he had internal bleading.

He has since become a insuline dependant diabetic, injecting 4 times daily.  He continues to have a high amount of bloating, diahorea, he takes creon 3 times daily, which binds his food together and helps him to digest it, but it experiencing jaundice and bloatedness which in turn hurts his scar and causes more pain.

His ankles, feet and legs also swell up and his eyes are yellow.

More scans and various tests have reported no more problems and the surgeon his happy with the operation, which he says was a sucess and says that the abdomonial pain will be caused by muscle tissue and the scar addesions taking up to 10 years to heal and some scar tissue which will never heal, he has offered to re-open him up to address these addessions, but has said that there is no guarantee that it will make himbetter, if not worse.

Has anyone else experienced such bloatedness and swelling and jaundice, if so he will appreciate the comments as it gets him down and is now suffering from depression and anxiety because of this.

Kind Regards

Justine

 

Jaundice is not a normal condition and needs to be investigated vigorously. Another doctor is definitely needed. Get a second opinion as soon as possible.

If your partner is not taking pancreatic enzymes with every meal, that is someting to look into. They are very important after a Whipple.

I had the Whipple 5 years ago and it was cancer. I survived but with some of the same side effects. If your stomach pain is like mine, I may have an answer. My pain comes as an attack and puts me on the floor! I can't breath, I didn't think I would survive the attack in the early years. I started taking calcium lactate (calcium that is easily absorbed) and it reduced the intensity of the attacks, but did nothing for the frequency of them. Last year I started drinking 40 to 50 oz of Gatorade and almost stopped the attacks. If I work hard and sweat a lot, I may have a mild attack. Gatorade has electrolytes, which help control muscles. I did some research on electrolytes and found they are very important to your health and well being. I talked to my oncologist last month about my findings and ask if the university hospital would do a study. He agreed that electrolytes and calcium may be the key and would look into starting a study. Five years of experience with the whipple tells me this is it!

I forgot about the enzymes. I take 3 with each meal, 1 with the first bite, second one in the middle, and the third with the last bite. I take 1 with a small snack and 2 with a big snack.