problems after nephrectomy...anyone else have this?

I have gotten much comfort from hearing from others in a similar situation and felt obliged to share my own experience:

2 and a half years ago I had a nephrectomy of my right kidney and lost both a great deal of weight and strength from the 11 hour surgery. Afterwards I also experienced general swelling in my legs and testicular area. The testes seemed to stay swollen for a significant amount of time and in fact, the right side seemed to remain a bit swollen up until a surgery 2 years later to remove a tumor in the same area. About 8 inches of colon was also removed.

While I recovered my strength much more quickly after this surgery, which only took a few hours, I had greater swelling in my testicles and on my right side, where the surgery had been performed. I had a drain in the hospital and was "seeping" significantly up until I was discharged and then began to develop a significant bulge and my right testicle also became enlarged, though not especially painful. Four months later things have not changed much and none of my doctors seem too worried by this. I have also noticed a numbness since I have gone off the pain meds.

Reading here that this takes some time to subside has helped to lessen my concerns, especially since I am generally feeling well considering I am 2 and a half years into late stage kidney cancer.

yes I have the same symptoms but I have just a partial removal for my kidney cancer its only been 4 months but I think it just takes time to heal and I still have to do cryogenics but I know what numbness you're talking about but it starts to dissipate and then I also exercise during my process and drink water Exedra

Nancy1216 said:

kidney spasm pain after partial removal by robotic

Hi, I just had surgery 9 days ago and 3 days ago was feeling pretty good. I am not on any pain medicine and only stayed in the hospital 2 1/2 days. 3 days ago I started having a lower back ache which has progressively gotten worse each day. I can barely stand or walk. My doctor explained that this was kidney spasms, part of the healing process. I am not buying  it because it is getting worse each day. Did anyone else experience burning and aching pain when standing or walking? When I am sitting I am ok.

I too am having some intense back pain after my partial nephrectomy on June 8. Felt I was progressing well and bam this Tues I could barely stand or move. went to doctor on Wednesday. He believes it's muscle spasms. im getting better but very very slow. A spasm will just come out of nowhere. So it's frustrating. I have a acupuncturist whom I hope will help. I'm also thinking some kind of therapeutic massage or physical therapists. I'm realizing that a surgeon is just that a surgeon. When it comes to other things their not quite as professional. I'll keep you posted. Hope you feel better soon too. Sucks.

nana4life

Jan4you said:

Nana4life and others, you are

Nana4life and others, you are right. A surgeon is just a surgeon so to speak. It is not always in their training to know, except adhesions which is no uncommon after surgeries.

I have gone to alternative health providers who use LAZER LIGHT treatments to help the nerve endings that have been severed or disturbed by surgical procedures to heal or "communicate" again. Its simple, painless and works. But you just have to find someone who does Lazer Light treatments.

So make sure its not adhesions.

Good luck, Jan

 

I’m no expert but I’d be very careful with massages soon after surgery. You could be healed on the outside but still healing inside and you don’t want to end up with internal bleeding. I’d definitely check with my doctor on the idea of massages before getting one. Ditto on physical therapy.

Nana4life said:

Sharp stabbing pain

I too am having some intense back pain after my partial nephrectomy on June 8. Felt I was progressing well and bam this Tues I could barely stand or move. went to doctor on Wednesday. He believes it's muscle spasms. im getting better but very very slow. A spasm will just come out of nowhere. So it's frustrating. I have a acupuncturist whom I hope will help. I'm also thinking some kind of therapeutic massage or physical therapists. I'm realizing that a surgeon is just that a surgeon. When it comes to other things their not quite as professional. I'll keep you posted. Hope you feel better soon too. Sucks.

nana4life

My surgery was in July 2014.  In early January this year, I had the most intense back pain in my life.  I had to stay home from work for 2-3 weeks because the pain was so intense.  Was it because of my kidney surgery?  I don't know, but I could not think of anything else that could have caused the pain.  It eventually went away.

Tommy1313 said:

Swelling or bulge

My problems started on August 15, 2015. I got up and around 6:30 and had to pee and noticed that is looked like blood was coming out ( I weigh about 280 pounds). I went back to bed and slept for about two hours and had to go again and this time I couldn't go. About an hour later I was about to pop, I had to go so bad but couldn't go. After much praying and straining blood clots came out and I was very weak. I managed to get back to bed for a few minutes and thanked God I was able to go. I knew something was wrong. Later I called my brother and he told me to get to the ER. My son took me there and they did a scan on me and told me I had a growth about the size of a golf ball on my right kidney and needed it removed. They gave me something for pain but nothing that would help me pee. After much testing and a day of body scans they finally schedule the surgery on September 21, 2015. After surgery I woke up in recover room and never been in so much pain in my life! I saw a man walk be me but couldn't ask him to come here for a minute because I was in too much pain. All I could do was hiss at him. He finally came over and noticed I had tears running down my face and he gave me something for pain. After I got back to the room I  was fine. I was released the next day and went home (90mile drive to home) and went straight to bed. I notice a small bulge (or swelling)where the incision was. After they took out the staples I noticed that the bulge has gotten bigger. I am concerned about it and wondered does this bulge go away or will it stay there? Can anyone help me with this? It seems to get bigger as the day goes on but in the mornings is seems a little smaller. It makes me look deformed.

Thanks

Tommy

I had an open partial nephrectomy and a bulge at the incision for a long time. It will be 2 years from surgery in March and I still have a small "sausage" shape above it. But it was much bigger in the beginning and you're only 2 months or so out of surgery. Give it time; it'll get much smaller. I honestly don't know if it will ever go completely away but to me it's a small price to pay for getting a cancerous tumor out of my kidney. Best to you in your recovery!

My surgery to remove a benign nephroma was in 2011. I noted lack of sensation on my flank and slight swelling after I was home and mostly recovered.  I hoped that the area would reenervate, which it has on the skin surface, but the muscles below are still weak. Now I have a flank bulge. I thought it might be a hernia, but after reading on this site, I determined that this is a not uncommon side effect of the open cavity surgery.  For those who have this problem, too, sharing what works and what doesn't is a benefit of this site.  I can tell you that, for me, wearing a constricting undergarment, like Spanks, to hold the buldge in causes me side aches.  Sitting in airplane or car seats without freedom of movement causes aches and pains.  

Losing even a few pounds helps reduce the bulge.  It is worse two or three hours after a large meal and feels better after a bowel movement.  I borrowed a friends "Tens" unit for a few weeks to see if I could stimulate muscle tone.  I did not notice any improvement.  On the basis of what I have read on this site, the condition is permanent, not amenable to surgical repair, improved with weight loss and exercise.  I did not expect this but I could not have managed the growing nephroma much longer - it was pressing into my diapharm and stomach - so, another trade off that I can just deal with.

FarmerInTheDell said:

Post surgical flank bulge

My surgery to remove a benign nephroma was in 2011. I noted lack of sensation on my flank and slight swelling after I was home and mostly recovered.  I hoped that the area would reenervate, which it has on the skin surface, but the muscles below are still weak. Now I have a flank bulge. I thought it might be a hernia, but after reading on this site, I determined that this is a not uncommon side effect of the open cavity surgery.  For those who have this problem, too, sharing what works and what doesn't is a benefit of this site.  I can tell you that, for me, wearing a constricting undergarment, like Spanks, to hold the buldge in causes me side aches.  Sitting in airplane or car seats without freedom of movement causes aches and pains.  

Losing even a few pounds helps reduce the bulge.  It is worse two or three hours after a large meal and feels better after a bowel movement.  I borrowed a friends "Tens" unit for a few weeks to see if I could stimulate muscle tone.  I did not notice any improvement.  On the basis of what I have read on this site, the condition is permanent, not amenable to surgical repair, improved with weight loss and exercise.  I did not expect this but I could not have managed the growing nephroma much longer - it was pressing into my diapharm and stomach - so, another trade off that I can just deal with.

But it went away after a few months

About 2 - 3 months after my partial nephrectomy I became severely anemic so they sent me to hospital for transfusion. While there they did a CT scan and found a hematoma larger than my original cancer. It did get reabsorbed and yours will too. As for fear of it returning, I think every single one of us has those thoughts. Unfortunately there are no guarantees with this sneaky disease. We can only hope and go on with our lives the best we can. Hugs to you.

Hi Debbie,

you are Stage 1, and thus chances of recurence are very low. Some Stage 1 guys here were given following numbers - chance of complete remission for the rest of their lives is around 95-98 %. 

It means that I (who never had kidney cancer, I'm just a caregiver) have bigger chance to get breast cancer in my life than my husband (who had Stage 1 kidney cancer) has a chance of recurrence!