Eddie Welsh , Age 53, Whipples Dec 2005 for Adenosquamous carcinoma at head of pancreas.

Eddie Welsh , Age 53, married to Jan with two grown up children. Live in Palmerston North, New Zealand and running a plant nursery.

Whipples Dec 2005 for Adenosquamous carcinoma at head of pancreas.

Now more healthy, both physically and mentally, than before the Whipples.

On a campaign to set up a Whipples Warriors group in New Zealand after a visit to the Whipples Warriors in Sydney.

No one mentioned this at my 50th birthday party
I was fit and energetic well at least I thought so. I confessed to being mad about growing plants at my wholesale nursery situated in the scenic Turitea Valley, just outside Palmerston North. New Zealand. In November of 2005 I wasn’t feeling well and lost energy when doing routine physical work at our property. After getting various attempts at explanations to symptoms such as a continual raspy cough and sporadic itchy skin my real condition began to get the better of me one Saturday morning when my skin colour was decidedly yellow. I was sick and could not get out of bed. Something was definitely wrong and I had no say in the matter. It was off to A&E in search of help!

Get me out of this hospital
My only previous experience in the local hospital system was to attend our children’s births over 20 years prior to this. It was a whole new situation for me with a new vocabulary of hospital jargon to learn. I also had to accept that I was no longer in control of my life and had to lie back and hope for the best outcome.

The gory details
After a few days of tests I was given the word that I had a tumor on my pancreas and that they were going to perform urgent surgery. That was when I was introduced to the Whipple’s Procedure. I am sure that Dr. Whipple didn’t have a very good success rate all those years ago in the USA but I guess we are all thankful he pressed ahead with this massive form of “cut and stitch” surgery. When I learnt that the correct name of the procedure was a pancreaticoduodenectomy it became clear why we all call it the “Whipples”. I pressed my surgeon to tell me how long it would be till I could get back to work (I’m a self confessed workaholic) he told me to calm down and it was going to be many weeks. Then he dropped the boom shell on the survival rates. That was sobering.

To be honest the morbid nature of that news did not sink home as the tumour had blocked my bile duct by that stage and I was completely yellow with all those toxins now escaping through my skin the itch was unbearable particularly at night. Bilirubins went up to 486 (now they are 11). The application of a stent was unsuccessful. My only chance of survival was a Whipples and the poor odds didn’t matter to me.

After a 10 hour in surgery I joined the elite group of survivors who all swear they had the best surgeon in the world. The biopsy came in and yes it was pancreatic cancer. A 2 ½ cm tumour was removed from the head of the pancreas and 3 of 8 lymph nodes were positive. However I was “resective” which meant I had a good chance of survival and my new start with life began. After 10 days I was out of hospital!

A new life and skinny again but I need help It was a quick way to loose a lot of weight , in fact 15 kg. This was the only Christmas where I actually wanted to gain a few belt notches in order to hold my clothes on. So in the New Year it was recovery time. For this I needed to seek out help.

Everyone seems to know of someone who has been through breast or prostrate cancer but with this variety of cancer being very rare and difficult to treat there are not a lot of survivors around to tell their story of recovery. When you mention pancreatic cancer to people they either shrug their shoulders or look at you as if you really aren’t supposed to still be alive.

Surfing the net in desperation
The internet was great in the search for information but sometimes too dreadfully frank about survival rates on people with pancreatic cancer. However when posed with the decision on whether to have chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy the internet was my greatest resource. I was able to scrutinise reports on all the latest clinical trials from around the world. I was fortunate to have a very internet savvy Oncologist who encouraged me to surf the net so we could jointly devise the best plan of attack. In the end we chose a relatively new chemotherapy drug treatment that had very few side effects - Gemcitibine. I under went a 4 month treatment regime going in for a 30 minute intravenous treatment after work one night per week for three weeks with the fourth week off. I saw this as a kind of insurance policy to mop up any cancer cells left behind. Too bad my health insurance company or the State health system didn’t see it that way so I paid for it myself. Well what’s the price of a chance at life and I decided I really wanted to live much longer.

Can’t recover alone
Developing a recovery diet with a rebuilt digestive system was a trial and error experience. Thanks to lots of thoughtful suggestions from friends, I concocted a palatable ‘super shake’ that had all the goodies which promised to get me on the mend. I was fortunate to have a friend who had undergone a “Whipples” some years ago for chronic pancreatitis. Although his diagnosis was not cancer he underwent the same operational procedure. It was a great comfort to talk with someone who had been down the same track. This resulted in a desire to find others to talk to about “Whipples” and to swap notes on the recovery process which involves not only a physical challenge but a mental one as well.

Support groups: Is anyone out there?
My wife Jan and I went along to the local branch of the NZ Cancer Society and met some very welcoming people. However they did not have any experience with survivors of pancreatic cancer and unfortunately could not put me in touch with anyone else who was both a survivor and had undergone a Cancer Society training programme to act as a support person specifically for pancreatic cancer. While staff were very welcoming and offered other more general forms of support, the only “support group” they could put me in touch with that specifically tailored to my situation and needs, was a group in Australia called the ‘Whipple’s Warriors’.

Whipples Warriors Sydney here we come
We made contact with this group who’s members are mostly based in and around Sydney. It started with one or two phone conversations and some e-mail exchanges. Recently the Whipples Warriors had some enquiries from other survivors in NZ and a suggestion was put to me that we should start a version of ‘Whipples Warriors’ in New Zealand. When we heard the group was having their annual weekend trip away in late October Jan and I cashed in some frequent flyer miles and headed to Sydney then South to a beach at Kiama for a long weekend.

I knew from past situations in my business life that in order to understand and connect with people you need to get along side them and experience first hand what they are all about. Telephone calls and e-mails just do not reveal enough detail to accomplish this. About an hour after we had settled in at the charming beachside town of Kiama, the Whipples Warriors members started to arrive with “Beer Eskys” in tow . In a short space of time we felt as though they were with a group of old friends.

Enjoying life Aussie style
The Whipples Warriors consisted of a completely random group of people. There was a tanker driver, an amateur pilot, a University administrator, a mechanic, a veterinarian, a deer hunter, a barber, a furniture salesman and a couple who were alpaca farmers. They made up the “Whipples Warriors” who happened to have something in common and as a result had become a group of great mates

The group consists both of the survivors of the surgery as well as their supporters. They live life to the full and welcome all newcomers. In true Aussie , straight to the point style, the motto on their club t-shirt goes: “If you’ve got the scar- then get in the car.”.

The Sydney Whipples Warriors group gets together once a month for a “meeting” which consists of an afternoon at someone’s place, indulging in large quantities of food, drink and laughter. Oh, and time is made for a chat about how everyone is doing, for recent and upcoming activities, and for correspondence. Minutes are recorded and sent out by post or e-mail.

Once a year in the Spring the group gets away for a weekend with alternating venues from seaside to countryside. More food, drink and hilarity is enjoyed with ample slots for serious chats between excursions to cafes, shops and local sites of interest.

One might say Whipples Warriors is just a group of Aussie “larrikins” out to have a great time and that would not be wrong.

There are no researchers or health professionals invited to gatherings to present data and stats on how sick they might be. This group of mates is about living well and helping people who find themselves going through the same trauma of a Whipples procedure.

Mates on demand
If a Whipples Warrior finds himself or herself in need, a mate is quickly on the phone or door step. In addition phone calls or e-mails are regularly fielded from strangers who have been referred to the group by word of mouth, the Cancer Society or health professionals. Each Whipples Warrior has already done the hard yards either as a patient or the one left to pick up the pieces after this life altering experience. They are “Friends in the Know” and from my personal experience it can be a very welcome relief to meet people who have been down the same road.

The Whipples Warriors have entered a team in the Penrith Relay for Life every year since its inception. They make hospital visits , help others with information gathering and most of all they provide a listening ear. They are one of the most committed groups I have come across. They can’t save lives but they sure know how to help make you live life to the full.

K.I.S.S
The Whipples Warriors is not an Incorporated Society, it has no government or NGO funding or affiliation, there is not an official committee and PC jargon is not the spoken language. However it is a very effective group of people and seems to be truly unique. Chris takes the minutes, Stan keeps the “kitty” healthy to pay the postage, John and Jan field enquires from new contacts and everyone takes turns in organizing events. A group of committed mates with big hearts , positive outlooks and loads of experience with life after Whipples who are there if you need them.

Whipples Warriors New Zealand!
These were just the sort of people I was in need of when I was trying to come to grips with my life being turned upside down. I reflected that: “when you come through something that is life threatening there seems to be an instinctive urge to not only try to improve the life you have been allowed to continue but to give something back to society”. We were so impressed by the group we are trying to find a similar random group of individuals who have experienced a Whipples and see if we can get together a Whipples Warriors NZ. As of writing this story we have found seven Whipple’s survivors delighted at the prospect of setting up a group. As word gets around we expect that number to double. Add in their spouses and supporters and we will have nearly 30 in the New Zealand group.

Some of the Sydney Whipples Warriors have planned a weekend away in November 2007 to Blenheim, New Zealand to help us get things going. If you are in New Zealand and are a veteran of the Whipples or you are about to go in for the operation or know of someone who may want to talk and perhaps get together with fellow survivors email Pancreatic Cancer UK and they will put you in contact with us.