The FAP - Whipple Report

 I am excited and feeling very thankful that I am able to return to work with Alberta66 MTB as a coach / guide this season. It was a long difficult recovery from the Pancreaticoduodenectomy or "The Whipple" in Nov 2023. Things didn’t go as plan after the surgery, complications slow things down and set back the recovery. Staying focused on a positive out come and making a full recovery was the main goal but spending 140 days in the hospital took a lot out of me. Walking as much as I could early on really helped me keep moving, and then I was gifted an e bike by family and friends which got me on the bike as soon as I could build the strength to sit on the saddle. I lost around 13 kgs which I had to work at putting back on, a TNP and a NJ feeding tube helped and then I was able to transition to solid food. IT’s been a challenge to stay on top of eating enough and staying active. Because of the new changes to the digestive system I have to eat small meals/snacks more often...

 WARNING: This post contains medical graphic pictures. Apr 1, 2024 was a day I had been dreaming about since my Whipple Surgery ( Nov 17, 2023) and the complications that started a few days later. It was the day the Enterocutaneous Fistula stopped outputting any fluid or paste. I was secretly happy to see no discharge from the fistula, but was still skeptical to believe things were healed. I think I didn’t even tell the medical team for a day or 2. For 4 months I had spent many sleepless nights reading about how these fistulas could cause problems requiring surgery to try and fix them. I had even had a room mate for a day who was back in the hospital again because they were experiencing problems with a similar fistula for over a year and a half. I was very concerned the fistula would cause more problems than the original surgery or reduce the quality of my life. Zero output of the fistula was a huge step forward in the recovery but it was still another 3 months before the scab fel...