The actual name for the procedure mom underwent on Tuesday, June 18th, is Pancreaticoduodenectomy. That's quite a mouthful. Alexander Whipple was an American surgeon who improved upon the surgical procedure in 1935 and who also subsequently came up with many refinements to the technique. Therefore, the name Whipple procedure stuck around.
Shortly after we heard mom was out of surgery and in recovery we had a visit from her surgeon, Dr. Vickers, in the family waiting lounge. Although I am certain he was exhausted after the 8+ hour surgery, he seemed quite chipper and very happy about how the procedure had gone. He said mom did great and that all frozen sections thus far had tested negative for cancer so they were optimistic they had gotten all they could. There would be additional testing done on some lymph nodes and other samples, but those results wouldn't be back until later in the week.
A couple hours later Dr. V breezed into the waiting room once again. He caught Kim and I off guard since we had expected he would head home after a full day in surgery. He must have sensed that we were surprised to see him so he reassured us that all was fine; he just wanted to escort us to the recovery area where Mom was now awake and they would be wheeling her up to her room soon.
Upon arrival in the recovery area mom looked drowsy but otherwise okay. We relayed the same news about the frozen section margins to her and she seemed to comprehend that it was good news. Dr. V gave some additional orders to the nurses and then handed me his cell phone number! He was going to be out of town for a day, giving a talk, and if we needed anything we should just call. I must say, I was pretty impressed :)
Another hour or so of waiting and we got the news that mom was settled into her room on the Surgical Oncology floor and we could go up and visit with her. She was quite drowsy from the anesthesia in addition to the pain medication so we didn't visit long. I headed home to spell our baby sitter and Kim stayed to keep an eye on Mom. The first 24-hours after such a long, involved surgery were the most risky as far as bleeding and needing to head back to the OR so neither of us felt comfortable leaving her. Once Michel got home from work at 11pm I headed back to send Kim home for the night and I settled in on the cot that the nurses were nice enough to provide for us.
Mom and I awoke about every hour or two for vital checks, feedback on how her pain level was, checking of the drain tubes, etc... Finally at about 630am it didn't seem worth trying to sleep much longer; the entire floor was now buzzing with nurses and staff moving about. One of mom's doctors (she actually was a friend of Kim's in Medical School - Small World!) checked in on us about 730am and said that mom seemed to be doing pretty well. We discovered she was allergic to not only Dilaudid (IV pain med of choice post-surgery) but also Morphine. So, they were weaning her from the Morphine all the while giving her Benadryl to counteract the allergic reaction; Needless to say, Mom was hardly conscious from all the medication.
Later in the day they switched her pain medication to Fentanyl and she seemed to be okay until the pain got a bit out of control. The Anesthesiologist was called and decided to give her a bolus of the medication which she was receiving via catheter and the pain subsided. The next day we discussed options with Dr. Vickers, on how to better manage her pain and he requested that the nurses get her going on Toradol for the next three days, at which point, she should be able to switch to oral pain medication.
The truth is, figuring out the best way to manage Mom's pain has really been the toughest part. Once we got her to a pretty good place, she has really gone above and beyond what the doctors and nurses were expecting as far as her recovery. All the drains are out and the pancreas seems to be starting to slowly work again. She is eating normally, although the diet is restricted a bit and the portions are much smaller, and potty habits seems to be doing okay so far. Today, the big milestone was getting her off the Fetanyl, which was being delivered via a button that Mom could push as needed. She still has the pain blocks in (catheter) but is otherwise only on oral pain medication.
She has been up and walking since the evening of the procedure and enjoys sitting in the chair in her room vs. laying in bed. She is keeping busy with her iPad and iPhone and getting as much rest as possible. The doctors have slated Tuesday, the 25th, as the date they'd like to see her discharged. This is only 7-days post surgery!
Nobody is underestimating the long road we have ahead of us still but to get past this huge hurdle has been a big step. Next stop, at home recovery for 4-6 weeks. We are so looking forward to having Nan back home with us and I know she is looking forward to it as well!
Thank you all for the continued prayers, good thoughts and positive vibes.
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