← Return to Whipple procedure: What is the recovery like?

Discussion

Whipple procedure: What is the recovery like?

Pancreatic Cancer | Last Active: Dec 12, 2022 | Replies (75)

Comment receiving replies
@calderon98

Hi, my mother in law just had a Whipple procedure almost 3 weeks ago due to a cancerous tumor in the duodenum. She is 77 and I worry about her mindset. She's been in pain so long now, years before her recent diagnosis and surgery. Now she's experiencing vomiting, nausea, pain in her upper stomach area. Her cancer is aggressive and we still do not have the full pathology report to see if the cancer has spread to any other organs. Today, we just discovered via CT scan that she has a fecal impaction and will need surgery for its removal. Is this due to delayed gastric emptying? Has anyone else experienced this after Whipple procedure? Currently, she's still at the hospital, has feeding tube, and a drainage tube. She's lost over 40 pounds and still losing weight as well as having muscle atrophy. Are all these symptoms in the "normal" range after this type of surgery? Thank you in advance for any information you can provide and bless you all.

Jump to this post


Replies to "Hi, my mother in law just had a Whipple procedure almost 3 weeks ago due to..."

Hello @calderon98 and welcome to Mayo Connect. I'm really sorry to hear that your mother-in-law is having so much difficulty post-surgery. It is not possible to say what is a "normal" post-surgery experience. Everyone's situation is different based on their medical condition prior to surgery, general physical conditioning, pre-existing conditions, and the expertise and prior experience of the surgeon.

I have had three surgeries (not Whipple) of the duodenal bulb for neuroendocrine tumors (rare form of cancer). The first two surgeries were just two years apart, but I noticed a difference in my recovery time, so I feel that age is probably a factor as well.

As it has been four days since your first post, I'm wondering if you have had an opportunity to see the biopsy reports by now.