Well stalling and denial did not work...who wants to help me prep for a full nephrectomy?

todd121

CCope81 said:

Thank you!

You all have been a huge help. I feel ready. Did anyone pack a bag for the hospital stay? I'm going in Thursday and Im not sure when they will release me. My hopes are that they do it quickly.  Herbert is about 7cm at this point and has to come out while still enclosed in the kidney capsule. I have always had a pain under my ribs on the left side. Did anyone else have pain with their growths? Or is it all in my head?

Pain

I had two bleeding episodes (red urine) and the second one came with intense pain. It was blood clots passing so the pain was similar to kidney stones. After I found out what it was and the bleeding stopped and before I had it removed, I thought I felt pain. Others have reported flank pain as a symptom.

Pain is always in your head, btw. If you feel it, you feel it. You may be more sensitive right now to your body. That's ok. It'll be over soon.

Todd

Deanie0916

I hope your surgery went well

I hope your surgery went well, I sent up a prayer for you. I had to laugh that you named yout tumor...I did too, mine was Hubert the Evil Mass! He was removed by open radical nephrectomy on the left side. All of the suggestions and tips above will help you very much. I find walking as soon as possible helped me a lot with feeling better and with bowel movements. Rest as much as you can, you need it. God belss you.

JerzyGrrl

Thursday, the 17th?

As they say, enjoy the sleep.  The hospital has gowns. Request, no, DEMAND you get two if they're the flash kind... The first one goes on with the slit in the back, the second with the slit in the front. Also, they generally have no-slip footie-socks.

If you're going to take reading material, make sure it's something that's not a first-edition signed-by-the-author book. Nix the library books, too. Something that's an easy read.  The phone and charger, BOTH LABELED with your name.  A comb and/or brush, hair ties / scrunchies, toothbrush and paste. Bills in various denominations for bribing the staff (Just kidding)! But a notebook and attached pen / pencil would be nice for writing down the names of those staff and support people who were especially nice and you might just want to send a note to later). I've seen adults of all ages lately, bringing coloring books and colored pencils along with them (Coloring is a great stress / tension reliever).  If you pray and use prayer beads, bring a set that's not an heirloom (Ditto for any kind of prayer book -- You may have to ask for a bible, if you want one; due to infection control precautions they generally aren't just left in the drawers anymore). For sleep, the eye-shade, ear plugs.

If there's ANY chance your "friend" might visit while you're in the hospital (OK, I'm dating myself here -- is that phrase still even used?), bring a small box of generous-size peel-and-stick pads along with some super stretchy undies.  If you forget undies, hospitals generally have those mesh undergarments provided for women, post-partum (The mesh ones are great fun, but you may not be up to hysterical laughter just yet, which is why you really need to bring your own). 

That's my list, sort of.  I'm considering adding a sewn-at-home gown to my stuff. One patient I visited before she had heart surgery knit to de-stress and she was hooked up to all her IVs and monitors, tucked into bed in the ICU, knitting (fairly) happily away. 

Thuvia

I had radical left

I had radical left nephrectomy October 27th, Stage 1, RCC, very slow growing, all contained. Laparoscopic. 3 small incisions and a 5" incision from my belly button down. Was released after 2 days. I hope you're home, all went well, and you're recovering nicely. My recovery is going well... take it VERY SLOW! This is major stuff. Everything in your gut has been violently moved around to get that kidney out and it will take a lot of time for normalcy to return. 3 weeks out I'm still gassy from my bowels trying to get back to normal.

Have a rolled up towel that you use to splint your tummy with to get up and down and walk with. It just feels better! I also use it when sleeping to support my tummy as I lay a bit onto my side. This was no possible until about 10 days post op.

Nightgowns at home. Nothing around belly... just more comfortable! (I would do this if a man too!!!) When going out sweats about 2 sizes larger than you'd normally wear are most comfortable.

Not sure when you will be back here but will post this anyway and for anyone checking out the thread for their own surgery. There are some great suggestions here. I won't suguar coat it. I had 4 babies with no anestesia and this was right up there. Pain meds are your friend. One thing I didn't see suggested here is DEMAND Simethicone!!!!!!! GAS - X. I used it much more than the Oxycodone. It helped get that gas out and dissipate it.  and that was more painful for me than anything at first. I took it for a good week after coming home. They did not have this on physicians orders. As a nurse I knew what I needed and got my husband to get with my nurse who got the order from my Dr... had it after that every 4 hours.

Hoping they used the Exparel with you... it's a numbing medication they shoot directly into the incisions. I didn't really have incisional pain until day 4 post op because of the this amazing stuff. Woke up in recovery with an extra arm band on... this stuff cannot be mixed with some other meds.

Appetite: At first it was very low. Now It's up but I can only eat a bit at a time and I'm eating every few hours. Staying away from gas producing foods. Dr is sending me to a Nephrologist now for medical side of this... medication restrictions, diet. I will also a a Registered Dietician. I lost 48 pounds after going off all sugar last year before this was found completely by accident. Need to lose the last 15 and not by high protein low carb as I was.... makes me wonder if that accellerated this.

It does very slowly get easier with each passing day. You'll wake up one day and go "wow, I think I've turned a corner." Don't over do it!!!! Cannot stress this enough! Holidays are coming and yes we have so much to do. It with either get done or not. I only want to do this recovery one time.

Shower chair and grab bars. Make sure you have them! Nurses always think safety!!!

Good luck in your recovery! I hope you come back to let us know how you are!  Lucinda