I was 55 in 2012 when diagnosed and had the Whipple procedure. I had been doing 50 mile bike rides at least twice a week for speed/endurance training so I was in excellent shape going into 9.5 hours of surgery that included a portal vein resection. Despite being in very good physical shape, it was still a slow, steady recovery that took nine months before I felt almost back to normal. My surgery went smoothly No concerning complications. The stomach/GI tract took extra days to wake up before I could start on solid food. I had a small bacterial abscess in a small area of the incision and was put on IV antibiotics to clear it and heal in a little over 2 weeks.