To whipple or not to whipple? What is quality of life like after?

Posted by calvink69 @calvink69, Dec 9, 2025

Am 56 years old in generally good health, though with type 2 diabetes. Have a very large (41mm) adenoma in my duodenum. It's not malignant but is of a type that will almost certainly become malignant, it will eventually block my duodenum. I also have abnormal cells in the bulb of my duodenum, so endoscopic removal is not an option. Surgeon is suggesting a full Whipple, without preserving the pylorus. Realize that I'm blessed that things are pre-malignant but also didn't have a Whipple on my bingo card at this point in my life. Whole process has moved very quickly - started with anemia in mid-October and am looking at a potential surgery date in January. Would appreciate anyone's perspective on living with a Whipple and on quality-of-life post recovery.

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Ampullary Carcinoma Survivor | @jimk87 | 22 hours ago

In reply to @casey1959 "@jimk87 please help me to understand how often & how far you walked. Appriciate the help." + (show)

@casey1959 Sorry for the delay, I really started to walk as fr as I could without overdoing it, mileage may vary. At first less than. Half mile. Locally now I am up to about 3 - 4 miles, I live on a mountain so it’s not flat. When at the beach we do about 5 miles a day. It has helped strengthen legs, stomach and lower blood sugar, now that I am back on chemo the strengthening and glucose management has been my main focus.

bilas | @bilas | 23 hours ago

In reply to @ln100 "@tomrennie Hi. I think slowing down my eating habits and eating less more often is something..." + (show)

@ln100 I wanted to let everyone know Jamie passed away August 1st. Jamie was my hero.

ln100 | @ln100 | 1 day ago

In reply to @gamaryanne "There is another section here where there is a great amount of chat on constipation. You..." + (show)

@gamaryanne I know. At my age (69) I feel like an idiot talking about all this stuff so much. But it is awful. I have diarrhea and constipation with soft stool. I just found out I have severe pancreatic enzyme insufficiency and possible ibs or uc. I’m devastated. Ln100

luke333 | @luke333 | 1 day ago

In reply to @johnny1955 "@luke333t Thank you so much. Sounds a lot like my case. I would not be here..." + (show)

@johnny1955 Checking back in on you Johnny to see how your recovery is coming along? Are you starting to somewhat back to normal?

gamaryanne | @gamaryanne | 2 days ago

There is another section here where there is a great amount of chat on constipation. You might want to read through that. Soaking in warm baths can help. There is also a foam suppository dr can prescribe. I am sure you have tried the OTC remedies. The main thing is to keep your bowel movements soft until healing begins. Ask if you can take Senna pills, which are OTC and not heavy duty laxatives.

I have felt your pain! It’s not pretty.

ln100 | @ln100 | 2 days ago

Hello to all. Wanted to know if anyone else is having or had a hemmorhoid problem from gi problems after whipple. I do and boy are they painful. I’ve been crying every night and all of the doctors around here that deal with them in office have months wait time. I also found out I do have something going on. I will need a colonoscopy and to see an inflammatory bowel specialist. I either have ibs (irritable bowel syndrome) or uc (ulcerative colitis) and severe pancreatic insufficiency. What it all means I am not 100 percent sure but I’ll talk to the doctor on Friday. This is a good reason I get so frustrated with doctors and their office people these days. They had my birth date backwards (they made my birthday 1975 instead of 1957 which in one way is kind of nice) and couldn’t verify my tests so I called and called and they had no idea what was going on. I waited over a month for my results and they never contacted me. I called and messaged my Doctors office a few times. Total incompetence. My grandfather was a doctor and if a patient was sick he was there in a second. At their home to take care of them and he kept up on the latest of everything. They certainly don’t make them like him anymore. @ln100