On
Jan. 4 this year, Rex Whitaker’s
closest family and friends gathered to
celebrate his 50th wedding anniversary —
without him.
The securities lawyer was in a Waco
hospital bed, corresponding with lawyers
in Israel about an upcoming merger in
between myriad medical tests.
“Everyone knew something was
wrong,” his wife, Marilyn Whitaker, says.
“Emotionally, we were deeply concerned.”
“I couldn’t think about it; I had a
merger,” Rex says.
While the 71-year-old sounds like he’s
all business, in truth, he’s all faith.
For weeks he’d experienced
urological issues, jaundice, and rapid
weight loss. When test results came
in, doctors were almost certain he had
pancreatic cancer.
“Cancer calls your faith to the front,”
Rex says. “I’ve always been the one outside
of the story, praying for the ones in the
story. But the Lord said, ‘You’re in the
story now.’”
This story reached a turning point with
the Whipple procedure.
“My doctor said there was a doctor in
Dallas who had done it robotically and
that I was a good candidate,” Rex says.
“I asked him, ‘If this was your father
lying here, where would you send him?’
He said, ‘I’d send him to Methodist and
Dr. Mejia.’”
The robotic Whipple
procedure gave Rex
Whitaker a head start on
beating pancreatic cancer
After some time in prayer, the
Whitakers had a sense of peace about
going to Methodist Dallas Medical
Center. Rex set his appointment that
very day. Only hours later, his doctor
called, confirming he did indeed have
pancreatic cancer.
Robotic surgery:
‘Truly remarkable’
While the Whipple procedure has been
around since 1935, it has only recently
been done robotically with the da Vinci®
Surgical System. Whipple involves
removing the head of the pancreas
and then bypassing the bile duct, pancreas,
and stomach.
“The robotic procedure is done exactly
the same as the open procedure, except
it’s through five small incisions instead
of one large incision,” says Alejandro
Mejia, MD, FACS, associate surgical
director, transplantation and hepatobiliary
services, at Methodist Dallas. “Because
of the small incisions, it hurts less and it
heals faster. Consequently, we’re able to get
patients into chemotherapy and radiation
treatment faster.”
A
divine
appointment
10
Methodist Dallas Medical Center
•
❁
Fall 2014
