Richard Welsch Pancreatic Cancer Survivor

It turned out Dr. Murray’s confidence was well-founded, with Richard doing relatively well, health-wise, for a while aside from having his bile ducts plug up every few years and suffering a staph infection in 2004 that led to a 106-degree fever and a 48-day stint in bed. Richard’s first bile duct issue developed around 1997, and he had another before his most recent experience in 2018. In the 2018 incident,
Richard needed stents installed in his bile duct and four shots of morphine before his pain would subside. Doctors also told Richard he’d developed E. coli along with several blood disorders, a heart arrhythmia and elevated blood pressure.

Richard tried a number of treatment options, including taking a drug called Ursodiol for his bile duct blockages. He developed severe back pain, though, and after seeing a chiropractor for relief, learned that the back pain was a likely side effect of the medication. As a result, he changed his dosage and started taking over-the-counter pain relivers instead. When his nausea and vomiting persisted, he had another endoscopy, at which point Richard’s doctor told him he now had nine stomach ulcers.

Doctors told Richard his treatment options for the ulcers were limited, so he made major changes to his diet to help alleviate his pain. He also dropped from about 185 pounds down to 132 pounds, but the dietary changes helped ease his discomfort to some degree.

While Richard’s health continued to improve over the next few years, the same didn’t hold true for his wife, Joyce. In 2019, doctors diagnosed her with HER2-positive breast cancer, a type of breast cancer that tests positive for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, a specific type of protein. She began undergoing chemotherapy, with the pair relocating from Minnesota to a rental home in Arizona, where she continued having chemo treatments. While renting one home, Joyce fell in love with another, and the pair put an offer in on the home situated alongside a golf course on April 1, 2021.

By April 10, Joyce began experiencing dizziness, and she and Richard returned to Minnesota for a brain scan, which revealed the presence of 11 tumors. Joyce passed away Dec. 6, 2021, with her passing proving to be a profound loss for Richard, who had long leaned on her for support during his own health challenges.

Joyce’s passing also marked the beginning of a series of major changes in Richard’s life. After her diagnosis, Richard stepped away from the highly successful company he owned to spend more time caring for her. He ended up turning his home in Minnesota over to his daughter and his farm-equipment business to his son, and he now splits his time between Buckeye, Arizona, in the winter and Crosslake, Minnesota, in the summer. He also makes periodic trips to see family in Redwood Falls, Minnesota, throughout the year.

Navigating so much change at once took an emotional toll on Richard, and adjusting to a new home and routine also presented its own set of challenges. Still, Richard takes comfort in knowing that his experience with ampulla carcinoma has meaning beyond his own survival. While he’s had a chance to start sharing his story with other people facing similar health challenges, his doctor also presented his case at a cancer symposium in the mid-1990s, demonstrating to a group of oncologists that, sometimes, difficult odds can be overcome.

Richard also has some words of advice for others facing health hurdles similar to his own, encouraging them to “Grab a source and start reading” and become as knowledgeable about their conditions and potential treatment options as possible. He also encourages those who’ve had the Whipple to watch their diets and recognize that finding out what you can and cannot eat after the procedure takes time.

“It’s been a lifelong digestive battle,” Richard said. “You’re really sensitive to different foods; there’s a learning curve.”

Richard also recognizes that he may be one of the longest-living survivors of a Whipple surgery.

“I haven’t found any info to dispute that,” he said. “But then, most people don’t put the positive stories out there.”

Now, more than three decades after his own Whipple surgery, Richard hopes to help change that. He also wants to make sure that more people to hear the stories that prove that survival is possible, even when the odds say otherwise.

Richard has shown no signs of active cancer since his Whipple surgery in December 1992.