Worth It!

Gerard Chezick

It was three years on February 25th, 2025.

That was the date I had my Whipple procedure.

1,095 Days

The first 10 of them, unbearable and almost unspeakable

Days 11 to 35 (approximately) were filled with hope, optimism, and struggling to learn my new body so I could go home from the hospital.

The days numbering 35 to 240 were a mixture of pain, discomfort, confusion, depression, multiple re-admissions, second guessing—and most of all, dependency.

It was sometime during this period I was convinced I made a serious mistake having the Whipple. I had been comfortable, strong, and in good health. Why, I wondered, had I traded that (gambled that?) on the possibility I might be cured.

I remember wondering, how long would I have to live, in order for all of that suffering to be worth it?

Three years is what I decided.

And now I am there.

It was worth it!

While I don’t remember the pain, I remember the experience of the pain and the helplessness/dependency on others.

The dependency caused depression. I’d been very independent beforehand. In retrospect, I seriously underestimated how long it would take my body to heal, first from the surgery and second, to rebuild the muscle mass I had lost.

It was sometime after day 240 I realized I was not going to get my old body back. I had a new one and it was mine to own, to learn about, to heal, and then redevelop my musculature.

I had to become the world expert on my body.

I am not suggesting any of this was easy, but it was important.

Diet and Exercise to Get Back to Myself

For quite a while I thought I would recover and could resume my old routines and diet. That was not the case. I will never be able to go back to my old diet, and I am completely OK with that. I have no blow outs, no constipation anymore. Of course my diet post-Whipple is dramatically different. I eat almost no beef and I monitor everything I consume with the MyFitnessPal app, striving for 50 percent carbs, 20 percent fats, 30 percent protein. My primary source of protein is in the form of whey shakes and whole milk.

I exercise far more now and do a larger variety of exercises—first to develop and now to maintain my body. I am definitely stronger than I was before the surgery.

Psychologically, I am more compassionate and tolerant.

Anyway, I have my usual scans coming up along with labs. I’m comfortable that they will be fine and if not, then I will still be fine.

In these last three years, this 72-year-old boy from Detroit wrote a book, kissed, and held my loves, learned to surf on Waikiki, enjoyed numerous sunsets, sunrises, and countless laughs and life.

Sincere Best Wishes to all who read this and to all who need this.

Gerard Chezick is a three-and-a-half-year survivor of a stage I pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor. He shared his story in “From Whipple to Waikiki.“