July 24, 2024 update.

Originally posted to social media July 24, 2024.

"Sunday July 21st ride details. I left home with the dream of doing a long ride on some trails near home. Leaving the parking lot I felt like a million bucks, strong, confident, and full of energy. I felt unbelievable good, and decide I was going to see how far I could go on the ebike using the lowest power setting. I made it almost 12 k, with 450m of elevation of the 19 k ride, 678m total when I hit the wall. It was getting hot and I had 2 more climbs plan, Boundary and Snagmore. I realized I was running out of energy and just need to get back to the van. So I upped the power setting, blasted up Boundary and down the other side and bailed on Snagmore.

I got back home and realized I may have over done it lol. I did a small recovery ride on Monday morning, but had to pay for my Sunday effort. Felt run down, and an achy body for 2 days after. Valuable lessons learned from this ride. I am not back to my pre Whipple Surgery fitness, and not sure I will ever get there.

Talking with the new dietitian that will be working with me, I told her about my adventure and how I felt after. She is going to make suggestions to the Dr's for some blood work to check on minerals and nutrients, to see if my digestive system is able to absorb things properly. This will help educate me on what I need to eat, or supplements to take that will help me in the future.🙏

It was also pointed out to me that the ebike has a motor that is meant to assist me and help me get stronger. So use the assit now and stop thinking I am ready to resume riding like I use to. 😜

I guess my brain was trying to tell me it's time to get on with things, stop taking it easy, and sitting around, but my body is just not ready for the increased level of activity yet. Listening to my body, and being patient is what got me through the surgery and complications that followed. Listen to your body, and if you notice something doesn't feel right, act on it, make changes, do what it takes to fix any problems. Life is an amazing gift, live it like it's the only thing that really matters."

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

Search This Blog