The FAP - Whipple Report

 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...

 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...

 In Sept 2023, I was in the process of making the decision to have, or not have The Whipple , I asked the surgeon “ Will I be able to ride my mountain bike after The Whipple?”  I love riding my mountain bike, and being out in nature, it has helped me for years deal with living with Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP) . The surgeon told me I should make a full recovery, and able to live an active life. After hearing this I started to make a plan of how I would get through the surgery, and recovery. I was figuring 7 days in hospital, and 3 months at home, this seemed to be the standard. I had no idea it would be such a long difficult time .  One of the first things I did, in the month that was leading up to the surgery, was buy a flag with a happy face on it. Then took this on a mountain bike trip, spending time each day saluting the flag , starting the process of focusing on a positive outcome for the surgery. I was lucky to have my family, and friends in my life. I enl...