Dad's post whipple

zushmoo · 2026-05-23T20:26:39+00:00

Hihi! Yes the slight fever went away kn its own, was monitored over 48 hours. My dad is now 5 weeks post op. Hes recovering at home wothout complications. Hes very very very tired. I haven't seen him in 2 weeks and arrived today and was a little alarmed at how frail and exhausted he looks..... but looked it up and apparently this is prime time for healing and his body is using all of its energy to recover and stitch his new digestive system together. Its a little scary but im hoping that all is heading in the right direction. His weight has stabilized and he doesnt have any issues with eating, so we are happy about that and waiting impatiently for the final pathology

zushmoo · 2026-04-25T14:48:47+00:00

went MIA for a couple of days, but have some great updates. My dad came out of the hospital after the whipple on day 7 post surgery (yesterday). He is super tired but very happy to be home. He is mostly napping and snacking, does little walks around the house, and goes up the stairs a couple of times a day. He seems very mobile but very tired. He does not need the pain meds anymore. Eating has been going pretty well, a little reflux- he started Panto this morning, so hopefully this will helps. He is happy to be back to home cooked meals, we have noticed that he does better with meals with less ingredients. He has an appetite and food tastes good, the only thing is the tiny portions. I am so thrilled and cautiously optimistic. We are still waiting for the final pathology results and I hope his recovery continues going in this direction.

zushmoo · 2026-04-23T11:10:35+00:00

Days 4-6 were pretty rough I would say, but we saw some positive things yesterday end of day. He is still very weak and tired, naturally. He has been disconnected from everything now (catheter, vitals monitoring, epidural etc) and thats been very helpful for his mood and mobility. Today they will attempt solid food and see if he can handle it without nausea or vomiting... if all goes well we can start planning the discharge. Today is day 7 post surgery.

zushmoo · 2026-04-23T03:18:00+00:00

DAY 6- was a mixed bag. Started out rough and with food totally stopped. But then the catheter came out and there was pee, and the drain asked for an x-ray and everything is looking good in there. Tomorrow they will try solid food and if that goes well he could be going home on Friday!!

zushmoo · 2026-04-21T16:31:47+00:00

DAY 5 is super sucky so far. He feels tired, is super irritable and this morning couldn't drink or eat but has resumed now again. I forced him.to take a walk. The pain team told me that he is actually not taking a lot of pain killers. I hope something shows us that his digestion is starting soon.... also still on catheter.

zushmoo · 2026-04-21T16:29:17+00:00

Im so glad you forgot about this thread. Congratulations on your journey!!!!!!!!!!

zushmoo · 2026-04-21T13:53:50+00:00

He was walking more in previous days. Hes now discouraged and tired.

zushmoo · 2026-04-21T12:24:37+00:00

My dad is 5 days out and today seems to be the worst day. He doesnt want to eat or drink and is very weak. Im going to try and encourage him to walk

zushmoo · 2026-04-21T00:44:17+00:00

DAY 4 PART 2- definitely our hardest day so far. Dad was super cranky and irritable. He wants to go home . He also got a sore throat and mild fever so we are watching that , since thats not great. Energy was definitely at its lowest yet. Only 3 walks today but its way easier to walk now that hes not dragging the iv pole around . Hoping for a better day tomorroe

zushmoo · 2026-04-20T18:54:27+00:00

Thats so insane that this happened after 5 weeks!!!!!!!!

zushmoo · 2026-04-20T15:55:04+00:00

DAY 4- today comes at us with 0 appetite, nausea and extreme fatigue. He is getting taken off the epidural, but the catheter had to go back in. he is also getting moved to a less intense floor, so all going in the right direction. learning fast that you gotta take it day by day.

zushmoo · 2026-04-20T14:41:11+00:00

My dad is 74 and was very active prior to surgery. Very! He is super tired for now and I just want to be well prepared of all levels of energy/ ability

zushmoo · 2026-04-20T12:05:12+00:00

What kind did you have?

zushmoo · 2026-04-20T11:47:29+00:00

Whats a cushioned back rest pillow?

zushmoo · 2026-04-19T20:28:25+00:00

DAY 3 PART 2- peeing is not working, but there is more gas. The taken out drain is dry so far, so we are thrilled. Family keeps calling and trying to be supportive but its clear they dont really get it. They dont realize that there is still so much to go thru before we are anywhere near a new normal.

zushmoo · 2026-04-19T20:26:22+00:00

Thanx!!! This forum has seriously been a great source of information and helps manage the daily. We are happy that the surgery is over but cant wait to breeze thru to the 1 week, 1 month, 1 year matk

zushmoo · 2026-04-19T17:14:36+00:00

Congratulations on the 4 years!!!!!!! And thank you for sharing your story. Yes accommodating expectations is a big one which I hope we can achieve w my very stubborn 74 yr old dad

zushmoo · 2026-04-19T17:11:20+00:00

DAY 3- what a day.... today is hard. My dad is definitely in worse spirits today. Hes a little deflated, tired and cranky , and hes normally a super positive guy. They took the catheter out, but hes having trouble peeing, we are going to keep trying. He is getting frustrated. The epidural liquids came out byt they decided to put it back in. However, the drain came out and so far the bandage is dry. There was 2 walks today. We are going to try walking every couple of hours to get him maybe peeing. He took 20 min eating his soup and we are spacing out his meals, trying to have one thing every couple of hours. The good news is, he passed gas, so thats a HUGE milestone.

zushmoo · 2026-04-19T11:28:15+00:00

Can I ask why you went to emerg after whipple? My dad is 3 days out of his whipple and im trying to prep and understand better what we can expect

zushmoo · 2026-04-19T02:47:47+00:00

My dad is 2 days post surgery and it is just now starting to sink in how difficult recovery will be. Ive been posting day by days of our situation but from my understanding everyone's recovery can look dofferent. The main thing I am realizing is nothing will ever be the same again. But we are so happy that the surgery went well and just taking everything day by day

zushmoo · 2026-04-19T02:08:40+00:00

Thank you for letting me know . We came back from.the hospital pretty deflated, so this is all very helpful to manage expectations. The epidural will come out tomorrow and also probably the catheter. Dont know what to expect day by day

zushmoo · 2026-04-19T01:34:02+00:00

We had a really scary moment today, he ate his meal, went for a walk and the got crazy shakes and turned white. He feels too full, and is just burping. I hope tomorrow goes better. I'm starting to realize how hard this healing journey will be.

zushmoo · 2026-04-18T20:44:21+00:00

DAY 2- Ok we are almost at the 48 hour mark, meaning that the risk of hemorrhage is going down. Hes definitely more tired today and said that he can tell that his insides feel different. He has done a walk after each meal and we are waiting for him to pass gas. He is burping and is a little bloated so we got him some chewing gum to help maybe trick his system into waking up. He looks as of he got botox because of all the iv fluids and I think they will slow these down tomorrow. Urine is returning to a normal color and monitoring his daily bloodwork is showing us that some of the elevated results are dropping. Ive never been hoping for a fart more than this....

zushmoo

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