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Hi Jaybear

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, my husband underwent a Whipple for the same thing and he found eating a tough road afterwards too. He was helped by being prescribed 3 x Fortisips a day which bolstered his calorie intake by almost 1000. Did your Whipple involve removal of part of your pancreas? If so you will need to take Creon. The doctors seem to be confused about the dosage and when to take it, so your dietician might be more help as everyone varies. Take as much as you need until the discomfort stops. [Yeah, that's the word they use which is hardly adequate] It took a few weeks to stablilise the amount but he needed between 7 and 10 capsules at each meal depending on the fat content, and 3 to 4 for snacks which must be taken while you are actually eating. It's a pain and can put you off food, but persevere as he has no problems now. He cannot tolerate excess sugar or fibre and the 'gastric dumps' lessen as time goes on. These can be very unpleasant and make you feel faint, but it goes off after a while. He rarely gets them now and he is five years post surgery.

He was too weak and ill after surgery having lost 50lbs from a 5' 6" frame so did not take up adjunctive chemotherapy. A year later the cancer mestastesied in his liver and he had six sessions of EOX. [epirubicin and oxaliplatin] He was cancer free for 18 months then it returned and he had another six sessions. A year after that they found a tumour in his liver and 12 months ago he had resection surgery . He is now cancer free and has scans every three months.

Apart from the Creon, he takes Omeprazol daily to help with acid reflux, but otherwise no other medication apart from the occasional Paracetamol for gastric pain.

I know this sounds a lot, but I wanted to let you know but the results can be good.

I wish you a speedy and not too uncomfortable recovery.

Hi Jaybear,

I was unable to eat for seven weeks post-op due to stomach not working but eventually started on foods such as ice cream and custard. I was taking Ensure drinks as well and was soon eating most things although it took a lot longer for the taste for bread to come back.

I take two Creon 25000 capsules at least ten minutes prior to eating and that seems to work for me. As Sallypond refers to - conflicting advice seems to be given by medical professionals on this and I imagine that's due to it working differently for everyone.

I did lose appetite etc whilst on chemo but it wasn't too long afterwards that I was back to a normal appetite and building up muscle - I hope it goes as well for you and wish you all the best for tomorrow and beyond.

mikel