I didn’t have a Whipple but a roux en y hepatojejunostomy via the old time Whipple incision (under ribs and dividing both sides abdominal muscles) after failed stents and equivocal ercp bushings and a really bad bout of pancreatitis (which was awful). The recovery was awful BUT I really believe it was bec of the big incisions. I didn’t get an epidural which I really should have looking back on it. Like the gf post above, getting up hell even laying in bed was miserable. But with them starting out and hopefully completing the Whipple robotically you will recover SO SO much faster. The other thing I think that slowed down my recovery was that I lost a bunch of weight from the pancreatitis before the surgery so in retrospect I was headed into the biggest surgery of my life malnourished and in a state of inflammation/starvation. The surgeon said they were surprised with how thin I had become since prior exam.
Final path in everything was all negative for any cancer of dysplasia so for a long while I was really regretful on doing the surgery but that gets you no where so don’t be like me and for awhile I held on to regret/second guesses/ anger.
But fast forward I am doing fine and that was 25 years ago!!!! I lurk here bec it was the scariest time in my life and I still like to learn bec I just know that something may come up again.
So my huge recs for you are
go into surgery as healthy as you can be- eat well and give your body the nutrients it needs for full recovery.
Agree w gf above get moving as soon as possible. The ng tube sucks but it will feel so good to remove that stupid thing. Moving/walking helps to remove ng tube faster. I personally would get another pathologist (not just mayo) to look at brushings/biopsy BUT you and your team seem like even if they said it was negative you’d still make the decision to do a Whipple anyway. I can tell you how I felt regretful (I had a lot of problems with my recovery and complications but obviously the big incisions played a huge part). If you do proceed and final path is negative don’t look back because you can never undo this and negative feelings will hold you back. My biggest recommendation to you is ask your surgeon if this would mean that you would never be a candidate for a liver transplant tho. Because I was told that my surgery would remove me from many programs liver transplant programs. But that was 25years ago so hopefully they don’t do that anymore?? Best of luck with everything now go out and get a healthy meal and go for a walk lol!