CANNAHEALTH Digestive Health | Page 23

symptoms early on that included jaundice. The early research of my cancer disease started with my own digestive system issues. Symptoms and signs of pancreatic cancer in its late stage include weight loss and back pain. In some cases, painless jaundice may be a symptom of early, operable pancreatic cancer. I had digestive issues, no back pain but a bout with jaundice that drove me directly into my doctor’s office followed by a CT scan and straight into the emergency room with the Whipple Surgical procedure completed the following day. The Whipple Surgical procedure, or pancreaticoduodenectomy, is the most commonly performed surgery to remove tumors in the pancreas and I had several tumors according to my doctor.

Surgical procedure, or pancreaticoduodenectomy, is the most commonly performed surgery to remove tumors in the pancreas and I had several tumors according to my doctor. In a standard Whipple procedure, the surgeon removes the head of the pancreas, the gallbladder, part of the duodenum which is the uppermost portion of the small intestine, a small portion of the stomach called the pylorus, and the lymph nodes near the head of the pancreas. In my case, my gallbladder was not removed because of the early stage of the disease. The surgeons then reconnect the remaining pancreas and digestive organs so that pancreatic digestive enzymes, bile, and stomach contents can flow into the small intestine during digestion.

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KNOWLEDGE