My husband has recently been diagnosed with bile duct cancer and is scheduled for a Whipple in the new year. He’s also got a bowel cancer which will be operated on at the same time. I’m just sat here now crying, trying to get my head around how life changing this will be for him. He will have a colostomy whilst he heals and we are hoping that will only be temporary but even if that is removed life after a Whipple itself seems pretty different to the active life he leads now. He’s a very fit 69 year old, we loved travelling both home and abroad with our camper van, eating out and generally living our best life and that all seems unreachable again now. Has anybody had both surgeries at the same time and can help to manage some of my fears. I know he’s going to need me to be strong to help him get him through his recovery.
Hi Netta and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.
I’m Anne, one of the Community Champions here on the Online Community and, although I'm not a member of this group, I noticed that your post hadn't had any replies yet. Responding to you will 'bump' it back to the top of the discussion list again.
My husband has recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and, like your husband, will hopefully be having a Whipple next year. Unfortunately, his tumour is very close to a blood vessel so he's having to have chemotherapy first to try and shrink it away so that the operation can go ahead.
I completely understand how upsetting this change to both your lives is as we too have a motorhome and have travelled extensively. In fact, we should be away at the moment visiting relatives in Australia but have had to cancel. I think that the best way to deal with the upheaval is to try not too look to far ahead but just concentrate on getting through each stage of treatment and then see what's possible.
While you're waiting for replies, it would be great if you could put something about your husband's diagnosis and proposed treatment into your profile as it really helps others when replying to you and also when looking for someone on a similar pathway. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. To do this click on your username and then select 'Profile'. You can amend it at any time and if you're not sure what to write you can take a look at mine by clicking on my username.
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
