His cyst was 6cm , the size of an egg, and the biopsy markers said it was an IPMN and was not yet cancer we were told if it was cancer it would be inoperable. I was a nurse for 39 years and the surgeon who performed Whipple only did 2 per year.. We were fortunate that the surgeon was recruited to be head of the biliary hepatic program and did hundreds of whipple. He said it was difficult but he was confident he could do it. His surgery was a success but now he is trying to recover from a surgery and numerous complications. You need to find a good surgeon which is a nightmare. We did not go to Mayo Clinic as we are in NJ.