After surgery pains

ambava33

Hi all! I am 1 week post surgery and the past two days have been my best feeling days. I am not in any real pain, not super tired, probably because I slept so much the first 5-6 days it was crazy! So I am a very active person normally and I have been walking around my house as often as I can and me and my husband decided to try a small walk outside in our subdividsion this evening. I did not get far and I started feeling a little pain where my kidney is and kind of got a tiny bit of a funny feeling that came over me, I dont want to say dizzy because it wasnt dizzy it was almost like a flushed feeling so I told me husband I needed to sit and breath because then my anxiety started to kick in and we all know what that does. So took a break for a couple minutes got back up and walked back to the house. I guess I am wondering if I am over doing it? I only walked because I felt like maybe I could do it, but I listened real quick when my body told me I don't think you're quite ready for this yet, is this normal you think? I didn't like that flushed feeling that came over me, it made me feel really uncomfortable and a little scared. 

JerzyGrrl

The not-so-warm funnies...

Your innards very recently got sliced open, moved apart, shoved out of the way, cut at, put back together, tucked back inside, and stitched up. Quite the (rude!) workout, and then some.

It's one thing to walk around the house. It's quite another thing to be outside. Maintaining your balance is more difficult (not that you can't, just that more muscles and sensors are involved). Then there's the wonderful yet overwhelming experience of your senses being assailed by the Great Outdoors. 

What you're probably feeling is millions of body cells yelling, "GAH!" [Translation: We are still busy knocking ourselves out, doing the chores of healing and throwing this new stuff at us is A BIT MUCH yet.]

Easy does it. You'll get back on track, just probably not quite so quickly. Good news AND bad news: It's pretty normal. 

Steve.Adam

Walking

When people say that more walking is better I think most of us mean a few extra steps, not a few extra miles.

The possibility of a hernia (the dreaded bulge) really bothered me so I took things very slowly. I was nine days in hospital and I think the extra bed rest really helped my excellent recovery. I didn't walk more than about 50 metres even the day before I was discharged. I'm still avoiding lifting heavy stuff (I haven't really needed to lift anything anyway).

It is also worthwhile avoiding anything that might cause internal bleeding. I don't know how likely that is. It never entered my head until my local doctor mentioned it the day my staples came out.

It's good to see you out of hospital and recovering. All the best to you.

Steve.

 

ambava33

You guys are right

You are guys are right and that's what I was thinking, but I felt good and thought I would give it a go. I have never had a major surgery like this, well besides my c-section when I had my twins but I recovevered from that like a champ, but this partial neph is a whole different ballgame. 

BoondockSaint

My wife was exactly the same

My wife was exactly the same way to a "T". She felt fine but when she would try to walk more than a little she would get exhausted and winded like she had just worked out.

However......tomorrow will be 4 weeks post surgery. She went back to work 1/2 days a week ago today and this week she's been back full time.......driving every where and buzzing around the house doing chores. I try to keep her "contained" as much as I can on the housework by doing as much as I can but she's not having it. Lol

I said all that to say this......every day has gotten progressively better for her and I am sure you are on the same path. Give it a little more time. I'm sure you will be back at it soon enough. 

 

Steve.Adam

ambava33 said:

You guys are right

You are guys are right and that's what I was thinking, but I felt good and thought I would give it a go. I have never had a major surgery like this, well besides my c-section when I had my twins but I recovevered from that like a champ, but this partial neph is a whole different ballgame. 

Of course

After all, I have a whole six weeks more experience of nephrectomies than you!!!

Never had a caesar, though...

Steve.

stub1969

Ambition

I know exactly what you are feeling.  I'm a pretty active person and love being outside.  Walking around the house was okay but I just had to get outside for a walk.  We live on a dead end road on the edge of town, so I was able to walk a small loop and return home.  Each day I walked a little more and a little more.  I did push it a little too far though.  I think it was at 4 weeks I started to run again.  At about day three that week I had a sharp pain in the area of my surgery site.  The pain lasted a couple days so I stopped until I had my follow-up appointment with my surgeon.  Fortunately, nothing was injured, but it did give me a scare. 

Moral of the story--listen to your body.  It will tell you how far to go and when to rest.  Take care and good luck.

Stub

Margie9800

hi all 

i have suffered from kidney stones for many years ... back in December I thought I was having another episode and went to the ER they did a CT scan and told me I had a mass in my kidney ... as soon as I went home I made an appointment with a urologist who sent me for a CT scan with contrast which confirmed there was something there and I would have to see a surgeon  when I finally got there they told me it's not to worry cause it wasn't cancer and they are gonna go in and get whatever it is they went in to get it but couldnt due to it actually being cancer ... when I woke up I was told I needed to have my kidney removed .. 2 weeks later i had a left radical laprasxopic nephrectomy ... here I am 2 months later still freaked out with everything that happened and noticing a lot of weird things happening with me .. I have an appointment with a gastro because there has been some blood when I poop (sorry for being gross) I know they said there's possibilities of hemmerroids but I just want to make sure nothing else is going on as I have a fear that the cancer spread even though they said it was contained I have also been experiencing a full bladder feeling and to me what seems like I am more swollen in my belly than I have been .. I guess I'm scared worried nervous that there is something else wrong with me... I don't exactly have anyone to talk about this to since everyone thinks that since I don't need chemo of radiation that I didn't have cancer so it's no big deal but to me this has been a huge deal ... was just wondering if anyone else has had the swelling and for how long did it last for them or the full bladder feeling 

thank you all sorry it was so long 

ambava33

BoondockSaint said:

My wife was exactly the same

My wife was exactly the same way to a "T". She felt fine but when she would try to walk more than a little she would get exhausted and winded like she had just worked out.

However......tomorrow will be 4 weeks post surgery. She went back to work 1/2 days a week ago today and this week she's been back full time.......driving every where and buzzing around the house doing chores. I try to keep her "contained" as much as I can on the housework by doing as much as I can but she's not having it. Lol

I said all that to say this......every day has gotten progressively better for her and I am sure you are on the same path. Give it a little more time. I'm sure you will be back at it soon enough. 

 

Thanks for responding. I have

Thanks for responding. I have been wondering about your wife, glad to hear she is up and going. That is what I can't wait for, this is so dang hard for me, we have two 3 1/2 year olds and they are busy, so not really being able to help with them has made me feel bad and then also not being able to do things as simple as a walk is just down right hard for me to accept, but I know I have to. My husband is helping a lot and my mom stayed with us the first 5 days but she had to get back unfortunately, she is a saint and made it so easy for me to lay back and not feel like things weren't getting done. I guess I thougth I was super woman and I was going to have half the recovery time, boy was  I wrong. 

ambava33

stub1969 said:

Ambition

I know exactly what you are feeling.  I'm a pretty active person and love being outside.  Walking around the house was okay but I just had to get outside for a walk.  We live on a dead end road on the edge of town, so I was able to walk a small loop and return home.  Each day I walked a little more and a little more.  I did push it a little too far though.  I think it was at 4 weeks I started to run again.  At about day three that week I had a sharp pain in the area of my surgery site.  The pain lasted a couple days so I stopped until I had my follow-up appointment with my surgeon.  Fortunately, nothing was injured, but it did give me a scare. 

Moral of the story--listen to your body.  It will tell you how far to go and when to rest.  Take care and good luck.

Stub

Amen to the Stub

Yes, listen to your body. I have never listened more to my body than I am now. This whole experience started with me listening to my body. I knew something was wrong, didn't think it was cancer but regardless my body was telling me something is off, get it fixed. I did and now it's recovery time I need to relax and let my body heal, because in the long run if I don't all that will do is prolong this process and I don't think I want this prolonged anymore than it needs to be. 

ambava33

Margie9800 said:

hi all 

i have suffered from kidney stones for many years ... back in December I thought I was having another episode and went to the ER they did a CT scan and told me I had a mass in my kidney ... as soon as I went home I made an appointment with a urologist who sent me for a CT scan with contrast which confirmed there was something there and I would have to see a surgeon  when I finally got there they told me it's not to worry cause it wasn't cancer and they are gonna go in and get whatever it is they went in to get it but couldnt due to it actually being cancer ... when I woke up I was told I needed to have my kidney removed .. 2 weeks later i had a left radical laprasxopic nephrectomy ... here I am 2 months later still freaked out with everything that happened and noticing a lot of weird things happening with me .. I have an appointment with a gastro because there has been some blood when I poop (sorry for being gross) I know they said there's possibilities of hemmerroids but I just want to make sure nothing else is going on as I have a fear that the cancer spread even though they said it was contained I have also been experiencing a full bladder feeling and to me what seems like I am more swollen in my belly than I have been .. I guess I'm scared worried nervous that there is something else wrong with me... I don't exactly have anyone to talk about this to since everyone thinks that since I don't need chemo of radiation that I didn't have cancer so it's no big deal but to me this has been a huge deal ... was just wondering if anyone else has had the swelling and for how long did it last for them or the full bladder feeling 

thank you all sorry it was so long 

Hi Margie

Hi Margie,

So sorry you have to go thru this, but you are in the right place for answeres and comfort. Lord knows I am so happy I found this site. As for the swollen belly, I am about 9 days post surgery and my belly has officially went back down to normal. It took about a week though, all that gas has to escape and I suppose swelling from the surgery takes a bit to go down to. Also, my bowels are normal, haven't noticed anything crazy with them. I would definitely talk to your doctor ASAP, those would scare me too, but then again everything scares me since this happened. It may be how your body is handling the surgery, it's not some low key surgery, it's major and not everyone handles it the same. I wish you only good news and hope it's an easy fix and just side effects from the surgery. Keep us posted. 

ImNotDeadYet

It's been just over two

It's been just over two months since my radical nephrectomy, and I still get pain at the site of the surgery. I also was feeling like I was doing better - did my six weeks on disability - and figured I was back to full strength. Well, yesterday I decided to really start listening to my body, which was telling me I needed a day off to rest. My head was saying, "You just 'rested' for six weeks. What's the matter with you?" But I finally learned to override that instinct to push harder no matter what. Learning to let things take their course is an important lesson - one that's always been hard for me. This is making me pay attention. You'll get there - just don't worry about how fast.

Jan4you

Ambava up and about, best you

Ambava up and about, best you can! Now listen to your body. See how it speaks to us? Yes, lets us know what we can and cannot do. Its not a race to recovery and many of us are not patient at going s l o w l y! So yes, you are learning. Good for you!

All questions are good ones.

Sending you healing, gentle hugs,

Jan

JerzyGrrl

Margie9800 said:

hi all 

i have suffered from kidney stones for many years ... back in December I thought I was having another episode and went to the ER they did a CT scan and told me I had a mass in my kidney ... as soon as I went home I made an appointment with a urologist who sent me for a CT scan with contrast which confirmed there was something there and I would have to see a surgeon  when I finally got there they told me it's not to worry cause it wasn't cancer and they are gonna go in and get whatever it is they went in to get it but couldnt due to it actually being cancer ... when I woke up I was told I needed to have my kidney removed .. 2 weeks later i had a left radical laprasxopic nephrectomy ... here I am 2 months later still freaked out with everything that happened and noticing a lot of weird things happening with me .. I have an appointment with a gastro because there has been some blood when I poop (sorry for being gross) I know they said there's possibilities of hemmerroids but I just want to make sure nothing else is going on as I have a fear that the cancer spread even though they said it was contained I have also been experiencing a full bladder feeling and to me what seems like I am more swollen in my belly than I have been .. I guess I'm scared worried nervous that there is something else wrong with me... I don't exactly have anyone to talk about this to since everyone thinks that since I don't need chemo of radiation that I didn't have cancer so it's no big deal but to me this has been a huge deal ... was just wondering if anyone else has had the swelling and for how long did it last for them or the full bladder feeling 

thank you all sorry it was so long 

Hi --

Hi, Margie --

Sorry you have a reason to be here, but glad you found us. Why not start a new topic and introduce yourself (also, fill out your profile). Then your intro won't be buried in the midst of another topic. 

I had my surgery in December, too.  Long-term tummy swelling is not unusual. Some days I notice more swelling than others, but it's good you're getting it checked out.  Funny how when we get clobbered with something like this, we start listening to our bodies more and suddenly with everything -- including everyday stuff and the occasional pains from overdoing it eating enchiladas -- we wonder if it's normal, if it's spreading, if... if...

foroughsh

Don't push yourself to do

Don't push yourself to do something your body is not able yet. Nephrectomy is a main surgery and it take longer for your internal organs to go back to their normal. Let your body recover

Forough

ambava33

Foroughsh

You are right. I listened and haven't attempted it again. I have been resting all week, trust me, me and my bed are very well aquainted 

bangle

It’s been five months since my surgery and I still get a pain around the scar site every now and then. I’m an active 63 year old and I know it takes time. No cancer so far with blood work or tumor markers that they take every three months Hang in there I know it will get better