Post Whipple: how long before your stomach "woke up"?

My wife was in ICU for 9 days and I seem to remember it took about 7 days they removed the stomach drain

My stomach drain has been gone for a while but that didn't have any impact. No NG tube though, just rejecting the gastric juices and bile accumulated

I wonder if @marvinjsturing @chess17109 @dianamiracle @susan2018 @dakotarunner @jeanne5009 @beachdog have any thoughts to add to @charliegolfrep's.

What has your care team suggested, Caryn?

You didn't mention if they took your gall bladder. We've all heard that you can live without a spleen, a gall bladder etc but rarely ever heard the impact on one's life afer these are gone. In my wife's case, the removal of the gall bladder may have been more impactful than the distal pancreatectomy and various resections. Be sure that you consult a gastroenterologist if you don't get info you need from the surgeons or oncologists. Creon might be needed to overcome pancreatic insufficiency and cholestyramine might be needed to offset the bile dumping. The surgical recuperation can take much longer than the surgeon says and the medications require trial and error to determine what works for you.

You mentioned IORT. Do they have you taking protonix to protect your stomach?

Be patient. Good luck and prayers for you and your family.

I had Whipple in Mar. of 2019. It seemed like I fought with build up of food, etc. in my stomach for quite a while. I made the bad mistake of eating too much too soon. It was quite a tussle for a bit. You will have bear with it, and pretty much all of a sudden the problem goes away. Easy for me to say, huh? I am now almost 3 years out and feel great. I have gained back 30 of the 54 lbs. I lost. Life will gt better, and without Whipple, life for me would have been over at this time. Touch base with me on this site in a month or so. I am pulling and praying for you.

Thank you all for you hard earned knowledge about best way to recuperate from the Whipple. My husband and I may be facing this within the next month. Any suggestions about how to prepare and questions to ask???

@dakotarunner thanks so much for your response. I need a little encouragement. I was released from the hospital yesterday and it seems everything I try to put in comes right back up. Good to know there is an end point to this, whenever that will be for me. It's really hard to know what to expect with this when everyone responds so differently in recovery.

They did remove my gall bladder.

I think I was on protonix while in the hospital but I don't see it in my take home meds. I should ask about that.

Thanks for your prayers.

How are you doing today, Caryn? Are things settling down?

No better no worse. Still eating almost nothing by mouth. Had another episode of emptying my stomach the wrong way around, to put it mildly. Mayo nurse i have been messaging tells me this is all within the range of normal, just need time and healing