1. < Pancreatic Cancer

Had the Whipple on Monday 4/24. This is day 5.

Posted by stephenkogler @stephenkogler, Apr 28, 2023

Hello Friends,
I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer October 27, 2022. Since then, I’ve had nine chemo treatments and just recently on April 24, I had a Whipple. On April 25th, I turned 57 years old. It was probably the best birthday that I’ve ever had because I woke up. After two days in the ICU, I moved to a regular room and each day the amazing team of doctors and nurses has been removing wires and drains from my body. I still have two drains left, but I am disconnected from the IV. The hardest thing was adjusting the pain medicines. I started with IV fentanyl and then IV dilaudid, and then pill form oxycodone as soon as I started a liquid diet. The oxy doses were all wrong - either too strong or too small and by mid day, I was in severe pain for the last two days. We are currently working on other options as we move forward. The chemotherapy and the surgery were all done at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore Maryland. My review would be the doctors here are A++. I will leave my review on that positive note. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about my journey. During this time, I’ve been able to keep in touch with my friends and family and employees by creating a YouTube video channel where I’ve chronicled my week to week struggles, and accomplishments in short videos. A lot of my inspiration came from you here in the chat room, and other pancreatic cancer survivors that I’ve met along the way. It’s been a challenge and at the same time, it has been incredibly rewarding. Best to you all!

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Pancreatic Cancer Support Group.

stephenkogler | @stephenkogler | Apr 30, 2023
In reply to @sloped483 "Glad you woke up, too! : ) And I'm glad to see that you are in..." + (show)
@sloped483

Glad you woke up, too! : )

And I'm glad to see that you are in good spirits and that you are doing well 5 days out from having a Whipple surgery.

Thanks for the YouTube video as it puts things in perspective in real time with all that it entails regarding your Whipple surgery and your recovery.

I look forward to future updates.

Here's hoping for you a speedy and uneventful recovery!

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Today is day 7 and my first full day at home. Pain management is the biggest hurdle. We tried three drugs in the hospital. There were several issues when moving from IV medicine to oral. And several pain breakthroughs which are very hard. At home, we are working with oxycodone for a few days and Tylenol. The pain is significant. The good news is that I slept for about eight hours last night. Glorious!

REPLY
davisworld1 | @davisworld1 | Apr 30, 2023

So glad you are doing well and positive. I had an unsuccessful Whipple Feb 8. We all, including my wonderful surgeon, thought it would be successful. They did however do some needed rerouting of organs. After being down in the dumps for a few weeks I have recovered my positive outlook and am at Sloan Kettering doing radiation treatment and feeling good. It’s a journey with ups and downs. Lean on everyone who cares about you.

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2 replies
stephenkogler | @stephenkogler | Apr 30, 2023
In reply to @davisworld1 "So glad you are doing well and positive. I had an unsuccessful Whipple Feb 8. We..." + (show)
@davisworld1

So glad you are doing well and positive. I had an unsuccessful Whipple Feb 8. We all, including my wonderful surgeon, thought it would be successful. They did however do some needed rerouting of organs. After being down in the dumps for a few weeks I have recovered my positive outlook and am at Sloan Kettering doing radiation treatment and feeling good. It’s a journey with ups and downs. Lean on everyone who cares about you.

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So today is my first full day at home and I am struggling with Pain. Do you have any recommendations of things you did or medication‘s that you took that worked? I am using OXY and Tylenol. The Tylenol seems to do a better job. Thank you.

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1 reply
kim1965 | @kim1965 | May 1, 2023
In reply to @stephenkogler "So today is my first full day at home and I am struggling with Pain. Do..." + (show)
@stephenkogler

So today is my first full day at home and I am struggling with Pain. Do you have any recommendations of things you did or medication‘s that you took that worked? I am using OXY and Tylenol. The Tylenol seems to do a better job. Thank you.

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Obviously we are not doctor's, but the sooner you can get off the OXY the better. Before trying anything new, your should ask your doctors. Not with this type surgery you had, but with open hearth surgery for a quadruple bypass surgery, I realized that OXY was making me worse, and I went back to something very simple that has helped me for decades, is just Tylenol and Advil, the combo took me from OXY taking to feeling well enough to start eating within 24 hours and helped with with realitively little pain. Again, speak to your doctor about this possible choice and if you have tolerated it in the past, as I have taken them for decades for pain. I wish you all the best in your recovery.

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gardenlady1116 | @gardenlady1116 | May 1, 2023
In reply to @davisworld1 "So glad you are doing well and positive. I had an unsuccessful Whipple Feb 8. We..." + (show)
@davisworld1

So glad you are doing well and positive. I had an unsuccessful Whipple Feb 8. We all, including my wonderful surgeon, thought it would be successful. They did however do some needed rerouting of organs. After being down in the dumps for a few weeks I have recovered my positive outlook and am at Sloan Kettering doing radiation treatment and feeling good. It’s a journey with ups and downs. Lean on everyone who cares about you.

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Any idea what didn't work? I have gone from borderline resectible to resectible after 10 sessions of FOLFOX. The surgeon advised that the surgery would require repair of the vena cava and wanted me to continue with chemo to optimize. Chemo has been fine. My surgeon is Dr. William Jarnigan. I love the care I have gotten so far at MSKCC. One gets expert treatment and caring as well.

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1 reply
davisworld1 | @davisworld1 | May 1, 2023

I was borderline resectible. The scans look very positive but once in there were too many blood vessels involved to remove the tumor successfully. My surgeon did a small gastric bypass and kept the stent which helped my bowels working well. Radiation was recommended as the next step. After three different options on how to do the radiation I was referred to Dr. Crane at Sloan Kettering who pioneered the treatment so off to NY I went. One week of five weeks down and feeling good.

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gamaryanne | @gamaryanne | May 1, 2023
In reply to @gardenlady1116 "Any idea what didn't work? I have gone from borderline resectible to resectible after 10 sessions..." + (show)
@gardenlady1116

Any idea what didn't work? I have gone from borderline resectible to resectible after 10 sessions of FOLFOX. The surgeon advised that the surgery would require repair of the vena cava and wanted me to continue with chemo to optimize. Chemo has been fine. My surgeon is Dr. William Jarnigan. I love the care I have gotten so far at MSKCC. One gets expert treatment and caring as well.

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This is great news!!
So glad you are with a good surgeon.

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