Aug 17, 2024 update.

Originally posted to social media Aug 17, 2024.

"9 month Whippleversary, living Day by Day. Things have been going surprisingly good, I had no idea things would go like this. Eating 7 or 8 small meals / snacks a day, blood work looks good, but need to put on 10 or 12lbs. Energy is fluctuating, and strength is still low. Sense of humor is healthy, positive attitude is strong, and desire for adventures is increasing. 😜

Only taking 2 prescriptions, Viokace ( Pancreatic Enzymes) and Pantoprazole (Proton Pump Inhibitor) , reduces stomach acid so the acid doesn't damage the updated digestive tract. No daily pain or nasuea medication. 👍

Slowly feeling like I am getting my life back and adjusting to the "new normal". At times I forget what happened the last 9 months, and get a slap in the face reminder when I over do things. I still struggle with some tenderness, numbness, and occasional sharp pain around the old fistula site. They tell me this area is still healing and recovering.🙏

I have no idea how the future will turn out. Best to live the life you want, live in the now, and enjoy every thing you get to experience.
Feeling thankful for how things are going right now, and need to pay back the Universe for my good fortune."

Comments

What's it like Volunteering on a trail day.

I decided to try and retire this year, not sure financially this was a good decision, but mental and physical I know I have to try and I know it will help keep me healthy. If I stay healhty and active I will stay out of the hospital I hope. A trail day is helping repair and maintain a multi use ( horse back, hiking, running and mountain biking) network of trails. I live in a beautiful part of the world, the foot hills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. There are several networks of trails and trail associations here, we are very lucky. I think my favorite trails to work on are the old classic trails in Kananaskis Country . Most of these trails haven't seen any attention in many years, so they are over grown and eroded. The trails are often in a remote wilderness area, so getting to them can often be an adventure, we hike, bike and use e bikes to get to locations. You have to be prepared to be there for several hours, with enough food, water and extra layers in case the weather chan...

Vitamins, minerals and energy.

UPDATED Mar, 2026. Happy to say blood work looks great, Ferritin, Iron, Vit D and Vit A are all back up into the normal range. 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 gr...

Mountain biking after Whipple Surgery.

I wasn't sure what life would be like after my Pancreaticoduodenectomy or "The Whipple" in Nov 2023, my big concern was the change in quality of life and would I be able get back on the mountain bike. The surgery it's self went really well they tell me, but on the start of the second week, when I should have been going home I developed several leaks and this was the beginning of a long difficult recovery . I started to worry that this was what my new normal would be like, but some how found the drive and energy to walk as much as I could while spending 140 days in the hospital. I kept telling my self this would help me get back to the life I wanted. Friends and family helped support me, gave me the energy I need and reminded me to keep my sense of humour. A group of friends, family, and strangers put to together a Gofund Me campaign and bought me a Rocky Mountain Instinct Ebike , at first I wasn't sure how to take it. Did they think I wasn’t going to ever be ab...

The FAP - Whipple Report

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