Flank Bulge after OPN

electricwizards
electricwizards Member Posts: 8 Member
edited November 2023 in Kidney Cancer #1

Had an OPN last week. I feel great except I unfortunately developed the dreaded flank bulge….Are these common with OPN and if so do they go away on their own or do they require surgery to fix?

Comments

  • eug91
    eug91 Member Posts: 471 Member
    #2

    First off, congrats on getting through your neph! Hopefully you're well on your way to healing!

    As for the flank bulge, it's too early to tell. The first few weeks, I thought I had it - and I'm not vain, but I thought for sure I was going to lopsided for the rest of my life. But about three or four months post-neph, I just woke up one day and it wasn't there anymore.

    Take care of yourself and hopefully it'll go away on its own. If it doesn't go away in a few months, you can bring it up with your doctor.

  • electricwizards
    electricwizards Member Posts: 8 Member
    #3
    https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1710408#Comment_1710408

    Thank you so much. It was definitely an exhausting surgery but after a week or so I started to feel a lot better. I have read that a lot of people here who had the bulge initially saw it decrease in size dramatically after a few months to a year. I am wondering in your experience did the bulge gradually decrease in size or was it literally gone one day after you woke up? Thank you again for all the information -- this community has been really helpful with some of the post operative stress and anxiety for me.

  • eug91
    eug91 Member Posts: 471 Member
    #4
    https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1710410#Comment_1710410

    Honestly, I don't know. The way I remember, I just looked one day and it wasn't there anymore - but it PROBABLY just shrunk gradually over time and I didn't notice.

  • electricwizards
    electricwizards Member Posts: 8 Member
    #5

    Just a quick update here its been 4 weeks now since the nephrectomy and I am already seeing a dramatic improvement of the bulge...probably a 40 percent reduction in size from the first week when i noticed it although the muscle around it does seem like its lost size, which is probably due to the nerve around it being impacted....anyway for anyone who is going through the same thing or has gone through it -- it does seem temporary and there is a gradual decline in size from the first few weeks.

  • donna_lee
    donna_lee Member Posts: 1,045 Member
    #6

    If you could see an Anatomy book diagram, you would be aware that there are many layers that have to be cut through to perform an open Nephrectomy. Skin, fat, 4 different muscles and their covering tissue, the omentum-which is a fat-like covering inside, and that's just to expose the abdomen. Then they explore the area around the removed kidney to ensure the nodes have not been affected.

    If any of the sutures in any layer is weak or tears loose, you can develop the "bulge." Probably yours went away as the muscles in that region were used and strengthened.

    At 4 weeks, you are doing fine. From an "old" PE & Health teacher, who had Stage 4 Renal Cell Carcinoma 17 years ago,,,believe me when I say you are getting better.

    donna_lee

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