Whipple Surgery Recovery and Nutrition

Hi Duzalot, if you don’t mind I’d like to jump in here about Teddy’s Whipple, of course remember everyone is different and his was 7 years ago but……They gave him an injection in his room and before he left the room he was sleeping. It was a long surgery, 8 hours, not life threatening but long. He was only in ICU 2 nights and then brought back to his room. It does change the way they eat until a few months down the road. He LOVED chocolate but couldn’t stand the taste of anything sweet anymore. Because the surgeon had to cut the head of the Pancreas he was given insulin only during the hospital stay. The second day he not only went back to his room he was sitting up. I don’t recall Teddy loosing more weight after the surgery, it was all before. He had a morphine pump and had little discomfort. It was hard to tell as his pain tolerance was extremely high! He was in the hospital 7 days. Here is a hint: I had my own rare stomach cancer 2 years ago and as we all know with any stomach surgery you get the joy of the tube in the nose! When I woke up I immediately asked for a bottle of Chloraseptic to spray in my throat. The tube never bothered me because of the spray.
Going home: Eating meals will return but it takes time and patience as this is a long recovery. Grazing on food all day works better than a meal. I made comfort food like buttered noodles, soup. Nothing fried, greasy or spicy as the digestive system will be forever changed. I put Teddy on Carnation Instant Breakfast and he loved it. The vanilla with a banana blended in takes the place of a whole meal with all the nutrients any time of day. OH, dairy was a no, no for him too.Guess that’s about it for now, if you have any other questions please feel free to contact me. I am wishing your family all the best.

Hi Duzalot,

I just want to acknowledge that I saw your message. I will be back on the weekend to tell you about our Whipple experience. Feel a bit tired right now… I was up very early today for our ONC appointment.

Best wishes,
Eli