Fatigue after Whipple

On Oct 25, 2011 8:28 PM mollierose wrote:

So my mom is 3 weeks out from the whipple.  Tomorrow I take her to the dr. for a check up.

So my question.... 

She has been doing extremely well from the surgery (except for lack of appetite) But now she's soooo tired!  Is this normal?  She was expecting to be very tired after surgery but surprisingly she wasn't.  So now after two and a half weeks have gone by is when she's starting to feel the fatigue that was explained to her.  Has this happened to anyone else?? sound familiar?

My husband had a 13 hour whipple with no complications, in the hospital for 5 days.  During the first 3 weeks he didn't eat alot and I had to prod him to walk, but slowly he was up to five miles every other day on week 5.  The more he got out, the more his appetite increased, the more his appetite increased the more energy he had and therefore the more he exercised.  We set a goal from the beginning for an oversea trip which would require a lot of walking and he was able to go on that trip 5.5 weeks post whipple.  I would recommend setting a goal and then charting it...gives the "patient" something tangible, measureable and achievable during the most difficult time in their life when they have no control over anything else going on.  My best to your both, my thoughts and prayers to all that are fighting this fight.

I am plus ten years after my whipples. Your mum is an absolute miracle. My weight dropped to 58kg from 95kg. I was a big fit guy who competed in canoe marathons. It took me a couple of years to exercise without having to rest sand 12 months to walk without a walking stick. I was in a wheel chair for three months. So give your mum a hug for me sounds like she is doing really well. If you want to contact me feel free. It's a tough journey but she sounds good Ian b

Just had a thought when I came off iv feeds after10 weeks I had chicken broth and banana milk egg and bran shakes and in the afternoon guiness stout then more shake. If your mum is having trouble sleeping encourage her to exercise and don't forget to give her lots of hugs. My wife gave me little jobs to do every day and hand weights to keep me moving Ian b

I'm so thankful for everyone's responses.  I just logged in today,  and after reading all the responses I got tears in my eyes. Support from this board means so much!  It really does strengthen me and my mom.  I will give hugs to my "mum"  icb1945....I love saying mum. (I've always had a love for England) I'm assuming that is where you are from.

anyway, yesterday I took my mom to the dr. for a check up. He said he didn't think her fatigue was anything but normal.  That was good to hear.  Right now though she is in for a ct scan because her white cells were raised a little bit and he wants to rule out maybe a leakage due to surgery or any other infection.  I'm actually happy that she is having one just to check everything out before she goes on chemo.

again, all prayers are appreciated!! I am praying for you all!

mollie

so my daughter was the same way.  It ended up that she had to go on omeprasol to calm her stomach acids down because they took her galbladder out and the bile just kept flowing and her intestines developed a bleed from that.  It was wierd cause she did so well and then bang she went down hill.  She went from 125lbs to 99 scary!!

Dear Mollie Rose, My mother was diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer last November she had extensive Whipple as well, they removed so many parts of major organs. She lost her appetite as well as any desire for food. She also had awful fatigue even though she really fought it, and walked every day. My Mom had such a great attitude about what she was going through and she worked at her alturnative therapies with vigor. Remember Whipple is a very serious invasive surgery that is very hard on the human body. Many people don't even make it through this surgery. Her body needs rest to heal, fatigue is the bodies way to tell your Mom she needs rest. If you're interested you can watch real Whipple surgery on youtube I did before my Mom had hers it really drove home the seriousness of my Mothers condition and what they did to her. I wish your Mom rapid healing I send you my Love too. Love your Mom be with her as much as you can ask her what she wants, do anything you can for her and try to keep her environment as positive as all of you can. Very Sincerely Yours Suzanne A