Skiffin16 ~ Whipple Fish...

Well...

As many of you know and have followed my progress....

I had the Whipple Surgery on 4/22/2014.., it's been an adventure for sure.. My surgery was for a pre-cancerous cyst, and all ended up being benign.., yay on that..

But I never really regained and appetite, was very nauseaous, and ended up getting an abscess at the incision site, that turned to a fistula. I ended up back in the hospital during the end of June.. another 10 days, 13 during the Whipple in April... NPO and on TPN (no food or water), went home getting nutrition through a PICC line until late August..

My wife was awesome, mixing up the fluids and on the pump for 18 hours each day.. I couldn't have made it without her love and support, and excellent care... Then the PICC came out late August, but I was still leaking externally from the fistula site...ugh...

I had an EGD in September to remove a stent that was put in during the Whipple. It had moved from horizontal, to verticle and they thought that was causing the non-closure and it was trying to work its way out of the fistula. I did feel better after it was removed, and started eating again.. Though that was rough as it was the first time I had to experience the new me and what I could/couldn't eat well.., etc... With the Whipple, they take part of your pancreas, part of your stomach, your gall bladder, and your duodenum. So enzymes to digest food get messed up, insulin can get messed up, vitamin/mineral absorption can get messed up.., LOL. and your taste gets messed up.

Back in the hospital toward the end of December to try and surgically find the leak and close the hole up.., again.., ugh.. Another 5 days in the hospital and again, NPO..But, this time and so far, so good.., going on 6 weeks and no leaking.., YAY...

They cleaned up the abcessed area, old dead tissue, and put some mesh in for support of the area.. I've lost a total of 97#, which I was 277#, at 6' so that actually allowed me to lose that much and still survive. I'm just starting to eat well again.. I can eat pretty much anything other than solid meats, steak and such does give me a rougher time digesting, as does salads and some fruits and veggies..

But no Creon has been needed, though I tried it.., no other meds, and my blood work has been good other than my red blood counts and hemoglobin are just slightly low.. Creon is an enzyme capsule that you take with each meal or snack to help digest food...

My hair thinned a lot initially, but after this last surgery, I've been drinking 2-3 Muscle Milks a day, and added protein fruit/veggie smoothies. Not only has my hair thickened quite a lot.., I'm gaining some of my energy back.. I've even gained back a few pounds this past week or so.. But I'll definitely not regain all that I've lost..I plan on staying under 200#....

I'm finally feeling good and doing things I like to do..

Best of all, Shelley and I hit up a few Speckled Perch this past week-end..

Thanks for all of the support, thoughts and prayers.. 

 ~John