Hi Denise,
Before making a decision about where to have the Whipple Procedure done do your homework. Things such as how many Whipple Procedures are done at that hospital a year, how many Whipple procedures are done by the surgeon a year, what are their outcomes with the Whipple procedure. Always get a 2ndopinion and if the surgeon bulks at this I would run away from him as fast as I could. The Whipple Procedure needs to be done at a large medical facility that do the Whipple procedure routinely.
I had my Whipple Procedure done at Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, MN. However there are several other hospitals I checked out before deciding to have the Whipple Procedure done at Mayo Clinic and my physician Dr. David Farley even encouraged me to seek out as many consultations as I needed to feel comfortable about where I was to have the Whipple Procedure done.
In this day of Internet these facts are easier to get and you can get a profile on the surgeon on the Internet. I think it costs $25 but well worth the money. Most insurance companies will pay for you to go to another medical system to have a better outcome. If the insurance denies that treatment at first then ask to speak with that person’s supervisor. Always get the name of the persons you are speaking to and write a follow-up note right away to mail to the insurance (I even send Thank-You notes if coverage issues have been resolved in a timely manner, but the most important fact is to keep records of who you have spoken to and on what date and always make a copy of the letters or information you have sent the insurance company.
Denise I know this is a hard issue to face and this is why I have started this nonprofit foundation because as a nurse, trying to make this decision all the info I found was so devastating and not hopeful. My pancreatic tumors were found by a EUS and the tumors were found before they turned malignant.
Of coarse I have a rare endocrine disease www.multipleendocrineneoplasia.org and fortunately was at Mayo Clinic where they had me having EUS and other studies every 6 mos. I had a Thompson Procedure in 2005 this is partial removal of the pancreas, spleen and had a gastrinoma (tumor) in my digestive tract. During a routine 6 mo. Mayo Clinic checkup it was discovered that I had grown 9 huge tumors in the pancreas (no symptoms) in the pancreas that was left and under went The Whipple Procedure in July of 2007.
I encourage others on this blog to let us know their experiences good and not so good about the Whipple Procedure. Their are many competent Endocrine Surgeons and medical centers around that are very proficient at doing a Whipple Procedure.
Anthony, you seemed to have a good experience having the Whipple Procedure. Maybe you could blog somemore about that.
Linda Hageman, RN
