Apr 17, 2024 update.

Originally posted on social media Apr 17, 2024.

"April 17th, 2024 is the 5 month Whipple Surgery anniversary, and marks 131 days, and counting, in hospital. I was home in Jan for 22 days, and a few hours on day passes has been my only break from the hospital.

Currently working on getting the small bowel working and digesting liquid nutrition via the nasojejunal(NJ) feeding tube. TPN IV nutrition is being scaled back as the NJ feeding is increased. The fistula(leak) from my stomach to the insecion is slowly healing. To by pass the leak the feeding tube goes through the stomach past the leak into my jejunum, part of the small bowel. Nothing to eat or drink for awhile longer because of the leak in the stomach.

There have been some rough days in the last few weeks where frustration and negative energy got to me. Progress seemed to be slowing down and my dream of getting home earlier was crushed.

With the support and help from family, friends, and the health care team I was able to get back to a more positive way of dealing with things.

I love the great people in my life. I am so thankful for all that you do for me, you are the reason I can do this"

Apr 4, 2024.

Comments

Vitamins, minerals and energy.

I had been living a very active life since I was in my late 30’s. I started road biking, and then mountain biking and loved it. Mountain biking became my to go to exercise, and I loved peddling up the longest hills I could find . I took part in many races, single and multi day events, never really too win but to see what I was capable of doing, to see new wilderness areas and meet good people. Living with Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP) gave me a reason to take care of myself and keep pushing myself, I figured if I was able to ride a bike as much as I did there wasn’t anything wrong with me. In July 2023 polyps in my duodenum started to show signs of change, and a large flat adenoma was un able to be removed, so I decided to have the Whipple Surgery in Nov 2023. The surgery went okay, biopsies of the large adenoma showed high grade dysplasia and I had a lot of complications after. As a result of the complications I was put on TNP feeding, then transitioned t...

Ferritin and Iron levels.

UPDATED Sept 3, 2025 Happy to report that what I have done over the past 12 months has helped my Ferritin and Iron levels stay stable and a slight increase. Part of the on going follow up after my Whipple Surgery is having blood work done at 3 and 6 month intervals. Blood work done in Nov 2024, a year post Whipple, showed my iron levels to be in the normal range, but the Ferritin levels had started to drop. Both my primary Doctor and dietitian recommend me increasing my daily iron intake to see if that would help raise my Ferritin level. The duodenum is removed during the Whipple, and it plays a crucial role in iron absorption, so removing of this section of the small bowel reduces the body's ability to absorb iron. Ferritin is a protein that stores iron in the body's cells and It's found in many cells, especially in the liver, spleen, and bone marrow. A low ferritin level after the Whipple is common and is often due to impaired iron absorption caused by the removal of th...

Dec 15, 2023 update.

Originally posted to social media Dec 15, 2023. " Friday update. Day 28, back on full fluid diet, but only able to drink very little to start, took me all day to drink an Ensure, but wow was it good lol. One drain removed this morning, 2 still in(one active), CT scan ordered and waiting for that. The medical team hopes the CT scan may show where the fluids is coming from. Goal is to get me on solid food, off the IV TPN feeding and able to pass it through the digestive system. Still going slow and steady." Dec 14, 2023. Dec 15, 2023.

The FAP - Whipple Report

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