Hi, my name is Helen, I live in Scotland in the United Kingdom.
I was really heartened to read your post about your mum and how she has had 8 wonderful years after her Whipple's. My husband is 36 and this February he got jaundice very badly, after a few tests he was admitted to hospital for a Whipple's procedure and diagnosed with cancer, also in his bile duct, just at the end near his pancreas.
His surgeon has assured us his cancer was completely removed, and he was offered a chance to take part in a chemotherapy trial. My husband jumped at the chance, for us it felt like a bit of extra insurance against any stray cells. We have a little girl who is just about to turn one at Christmas time, she was only 5 weeks old when my husband got sick. He has been receiving Gemcitabine every 3 weeks, I think in the US it is Gemzar? He has been quite well and managed to work 3 days a week around his appointments, with no nasty side effects, although he has been very fatigued.He gets his last chemo session this week and we hope we can put the bad parts of this year behind us and get on with family life.
It feels like a big question mark over our family future though. A lot of what I read about whipple's and GI cancer is such bad news, I feel like there is nothing to look forward to for us and we can't plan a future.
Your story has changed all that, with a bit of luck and God on our side, my husband can have at least 8 happy years watching our girl grow up if not more, your story about your mum is such a positive one, and something that I can cling on to with hope.
I do hope things are going well for your mum now, that her strength has been renewed and she can receive her chemo.I hope you have a merry Christmas with her.
Thank you.