Kidney Pain

avdoty
avdoty Member Posts: 62
in Kidney Cancer #1

I have a question related to recent pain that I've started to feel in what I believe is my right kidney.

I had a partial nephrectomy on my left kidney on May 8th (4 1/2 months ago) and had been recovering very well. Suddenly about 1 1/2 weeks ago I started having severe back pain on the opposite side of my surgery. I was okay standing up but couldn't lay down without significant pain. I thought it would go away so I decided to go ahead and go to NYC on a short business trip the next day. The 5 hr flight was bad and the pain began to get worse. I could be sitting down with a mild achy back one second and the next second be in excruciating pain like I've never felt before. It went back and forth like this for the next several days. Thought about going to the emergency room in New York but didn't. Got home and went straight to the emergency room. They originally thought I had Kidney Stones but none showed up on a ct scan they gave me. Got some morphine and other other meds and felt a little better. I still have periods of stabbing pain in my right kidney but it's not as frequent. The achyness persists. I was going to have a 6 month follow up with my uro-oncologist in November but have moved up the schedule but it will still be a few weeks out.  

Has as anyone experienced this type of pain in your kidney?  Can kidney stones be present without being detected by a CT scan?

 

 

Comments

  • icemantoo
    icemantoo Member Posts: 3,361 Member
    #2
    Who knows

    Advoty,

     

    Earlier this summer I had sharp pains going down my right leg. My Urologist suggested I see my GP about it. After some tests and several visits my GP sent me to a Sports Medicine Doctor. After waiting 3 weeks for the apointment the pain went away and I cancelled the appointment. I have been fine for the last 4 weeks after 2 months of pain.

     

    Icemantoo

  • sblairc
    sblairc Member Posts: 585 Member
    #3
    Did they use contrast in the CT?

    I was just wondering, not sure if that makes a difference or not but I undersand a CT with contrast dye to be more accurate. Hope you feel better soon!

  • avdoty
    avdoty Member Posts: 62
    #4
    sblairc said:

    Did they use contrast in the CT?

    I was just wondering, not sure if that makes a difference or not but I undersand a CT with contrast dye to be more accurate. Hope you feel better soon!

    Cat Scan

    The CT was done with contrast.  The good news is that no mets showed up. 

  • aamdsi
    aamdsi Member Posts: 284
    #5
    Sorry and glad

    Sorry about the pain...tis curious. Could it be a kidney infection?  Trust me, they HURT!  OMG (as kids would say) and - from what I remember as a kid having it - they only hurt on one side.  Something maybe to check on?  Soon as possible.

    Glad about the results though 8-)  THAT is good news!

     

    Laurie

  • avdoty
    avdoty Member Posts: 62
    #6
    aamdsi said:

    Sorry and glad

    Sorry about the pain...tis curious. Could it be a kidney infection?  Trust me, they HURT!  OMG (as kids would say) and - from what I remember as a kid having it - they only hurt on one side.  Something maybe to check on?  Soon as possible.

    Glad about the results though 8-)  THAT is good news!

     

    Laurie

    The ER ruled out a kidney

    The ER ruled out a kidney infection.  My uro-oncologist looked at the CT scan the ER did and now doesn't see any need for me to come in for an appointment -- no tumor, no kidney stones, nothing that he sees that could be causing a problem. It's very frustrating because the pain was extreme and although it hurts less today it is still present. It seems like something is wrong but the tests don't show any thing. Maybe it will be like Iceman's pain that went away on its own. 

    Thanks Laurie and Iceman 

  • Positive_Mental_Attitude
    Positive_Mental_Attitude Member Posts: 454
    #7
    avdoty said:

    The ER ruled out a kidney

    The ER ruled out a kidney infection.  My uro-oncologist looked at the CT scan the ER did and now doesn't see any need for me to come in for an appointment -- no tumor, no kidney stones, nothing that he sees that could be causing a problem. It's very frustrating because the pain was extreme and although it hurts less today it is still present. It seems like something is wrong but the tests don't show any thing. Maybe it will be like Iceman's pain that went away on its own. 

    Thanks Laurie and Iceman 

    avdoty, how do you know it is

    avdoty, how do you know it is your kidney causing the pain?

    My surgery was July 10.  I had a cold nearly 2 weeks ago, and I sneezed hard enough to pull a muscle under my rib cage close to my incision from my surgery. I was initially concerned I could have caused a hernia, but I pinpointed the pain to under my ribs.  Mild pain is still there when I cough and sneeze.  I am thinking of getting it checked out, but I am fairly certain it is nothing to worry about and just needs time to heal.  I hope you feel better soon.

  • GSRon
    GSRon Member Posts: 1,303 Member
    #8
    Positive_Mental_Attitude said:

    avdoty, how do you know it is

    avdoty, how do you know it is your kidney causing the pain?

    My surgery was July 10.  I had a cold nearly 2 weeks ago, and I sneezed hard enough to pull a muscle under my rib cage close to my incision from my surgery. I was initially concerned I could have caused a hernia, but I pinpointed the pain to under my ribs.  Mild pain is still there when I cough and sneeze.  I am thinking of getting it checked out, but I am fairly certain it is nothing to worry about and just needs time to heal.  I hope you feel better soon.

    I get random pains in several

    I get random pains in several mid section areas.  They come and go.  But not to the extreme like you mention or where I would go to the ER.  My right Kidney has two cysts in it, do not know it that can cause pain or not.  But I also get pain on my left side in the empty Kidney bed area.  I sometimes wonder if sitting or sleeping can cause it.. or even diet when I get pain in my Kidney.  I sometimes get Kidney pain after eating too much "bad" food..

    Glad the scan was good.  At least you know what it isn't.

    Ron

  • rainsandpours
    rainsandpours Member Posts: 136
    #9
    avdoty said:

    The ER ruled out a kidney

    The ER ruled out a kidney infection.  My uro-oncologist looked at the CT scan the ER did and now doesn't see any need for me to come in for an appointment -- no tumor, no kidney stones, nothing that he sees that could be causing a problem. It's very frustrating because the pain was extreme and although it hurts less today it is still present. It seems like something is wrong but the tests don't show any thing. Maybe it will be like Iceman's pain that went away on its own. 

    Thanks Laurie and Iceman 

    Did they check your

    Did they check your gallbladder? If you have a Cd of your scan, have a look and see if you can see gallstones. Gallbladder attacks are unbelievably painful!!!!!

     

    In between my thyroid surgeries, and the kidney cancer, I had to have mine out.  It was causing excruciating attacks that felt like in my side and back, but especially in the right rib area.

  • avdoty
    avdoty Member Posts: 62
    #10
    rainsandpours said:

    Did they check your

    Did they check your gallbladder? If you have a Cd of your scan, have a look and see if you can see gallstones. Gallbladder attacks are unbelievably painful!!!!!

     

    In between my thyroid surgeries, and the kidney cancer, I had to have mine out.  It was causing excruciating attacks that felt like in my side and back, but especially in the right rib area.

    Not Gall Stones

    Not sure what it was but it's gone now. I thought it was my kidney because it felt like it was it the same type of pain when I sneezed or coughed after my partial neph only it was worse. My uro-oncologist looked at the scans and couldn't see anything that could have caused it. No gall stones or kidney stones and my labs ruled out kidney infection. It must have been some type of muscular/nerve issue. I ran a half marathon last Sunday and didn't have any issues so it's probably gone for good. 

  • foxhd
    foxhd Member Posts: 3,181 Member
    #11
    avdoty said:

    Not Gall Stones

    Not sure what it was but it's gone now. I thought it was my kidney because it felt like it was it the same type of pain when I sneezed or coughed after my partial neph only it was worse. My uro-oncologist looked at the scans and couldn't see anything that could have caused it. No gall stones or kidney stones and my labs ruled out kidney infection. It must have been some type of muscular/nerve issue. I ran a half marathon last Sunday and didn't have any issues so it's probably gone for good. 

    pain

    after cancer surgery, mystery pains can haunt you. This is why we push people to ALWAYS continue with follow up scans and appts. We just never know what could be going on. Glad you feel better.

  • aamdsi
    aamdsi Member Posts: 284
    #12
    Sorry don't know reasoning

    But glad doing better.   Halfer!  Yay you!  Rmember when we were concerned about being able to run at all?  Now look at us!  I raise my coffee cup to you and your recovery 8-)

     

    Laurie

  • Positive_Mental_Attitude
    Positive_Mental_Attitude Member Posts: 454
    #13
    avdoty said:

    Not Gall Stones

    Not sure what it was but it's gone now. I thought it was my kidney because it felt like it was it the same type of pain when I sneezed or coughed after my partial neph only it was worse. My uro-oncologist looked at the scans and couldn't see anything that could have caused it. No gall stones or kidney stones and my labs ruled out kidney infection. It must have been some type of muscular/nerve issue. I ran a half marathon last Sunday and didn't have any issues so it's probably gone for good. 

    Glad it cleared up for you. I

    Glad it cleared up for you. I still have mild pain under my rib cage on the same side of my incision, but it seems to be healing.  If it is not better in a week, I am going to get checked out.

  • avdoty
    avdoty Member Posts: 62
    #14
    aamdsi said:

    Sorry don't know reasoning

    But glad doing better.   Halfer!  Yay you!  Rmember when we were concerned about being able to run at all?  Now look at us!  I raise my coffee cup to you and your recovery 8-)

     

    Laurie

    Laurie, although my endurance

    Laurie, although my endurance has improved enough to where I feel that I can do a marathon again, my speed is substantially slower. I was about 6 mins off last year's half.  I signed up for a marathon in December and hope that I can continue to build up enough speed to be close to last years times. I really feel like my cardio is improving rapidly now.  I'm over the hump finally.  Just in time because I got my official notification from the Boston Athletic Association last week that I was accepted to run in the 2015 Boston Marathon In April. Very excited about that and really need to up my game for the event.  You are my inspiration after seeing that you returned to a competitive level so quickly. 

    Fox, I'll probably lean to the hypochondriac side of follow up testing -- regular follow up plus lots of doctor appointments and testing in between because I think every ache and pain relates to my cancer. I can't wait for that to pass, if it ever will. The mental side of this is harder than I thought it would be. 

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