Surgery July 1st

It definitely is worse before surgery.  The unknown can totally drive you crazy.  I had a robotic lap procedure back in 2012.  If your surgery is about noon, which in hospital speak, probably more like 2 or so, you may not be walked that night.  No guarantee though.  To both of you, the good news is that your growths are pretty small, meaning it has been caught early and surgery will probably take care of it all.  Of course you'll have your routine follow-up appointments.  Make sure you do your breathing exercises post surgery so you don't end up with pneumonia.  A common complication due to the combination of sedation, pain meds, lack of activity and therefore shallow breathing.  About 10 breaths an hour when awake will usually do the trick in warding off any respiratory problems.  (do your deep breathing during a commercial break on tv and you're good)  Also, I had stairs to climb and I'd go up at night and once I came down in the morning I didn't go back up again until night time.  Do yourself a favor and pick up one of those lumbar velcro supports.  Reallly helps make you feel like everything is holding together when you're trying to get up from the bed, sofa, etc.  Another poster will mention using dry ice with it.  Marvelous idea, but I hadn't heard that before my surgery.  If you don't have a lot of support to depend on, you'll want to prepare in advance for your downtime, have your laundry done and some meals prepared in advance that you can freeze, etc.  Have lots of books, movies, etc available to you, so you don't get too bored.

Best wishes to both of you, keep us posted.

Donna~

I'm at the it-hasn't-happened-yet side of surgery, too.  My surgeon will have me on a liquid diet for 3 days both before and after and only ibuprofen or acetaminophen for pain. He says that gets the digestive system going easier which is the system that has the roughest time of it, post-surgery (and just wants me to be able to pass gas before I can go home). Some protocols have you using go-litely (etc) before, some get you eating regular food before you leave.  Or not.  There are a variety of different methods of GI-tract prep and follow-up.  My surgeon expects me to just have one night in the hospital (although when I saw him, he'd just had a patient request to stay another night, and he OK'd that). 

We can provide you with general information.  For specifics, you might want to contact your surgeon or the surgery.  Can you e-mail your surgeon or call and ask the office staff? 

All the best --

Jerzy

I was nephed on an August 1............ 2002. For the 4th of July weekend my wife took me to a B and B on the Canadian side of Lake Huron to relax. We went to a British Pub in town for dinner where they brought out all the dishes to view. I did not choose the kidney pie.

Icemantoo

Here are my answers to your questions, please see below:

My surgery is scheduled for July 1st and 12:00.  Doctor said he believes he can do it laporoscopic.  My mass is 2.6 cm and report says a very minimal amount appears to be in renal sinus.  He thinks he can save most of the kidney.  How long do these type of surgeries normally last? Mine lasted about 3 hours hours, but they removed two masses.  He said I should be in hospital 2 nights.  Does these seem about right?  Yes, I stayed two nights in the hospital, four nights in a hotel , and  then flew back home  I am so nervous!  Everyone on this board is so sweet and caring.  I'm so glad that I have found this board.  Any suggestio before and after surgery?  Figure out where you are going to sleep once you get home.  Most people sleep in a recliner, but I was in a hotel so I slept in bed propped on a lot of pillows.  Sitting up and laying down is the hardest part.  Once you are up you're good to go.  The bowel prep you drink the day before surgery sucks!  I mean I was still feeling the effects of that crap two days after surgery LOL  I have started with that crazy breathing thing (it's hard even before surgery lol).  I will be staying at my parents after surgery because im worried about climbing stairs.  Is this something I should worry about?  No, stairs should not be an issue, they wern't for me anyways  Will they have me up walking the same day as surgery?  Yes, you will be out of bed about 6 hours after surgery.  It's not too bad  Sorry my all of my questions.  Just ready to get this over with.  I am hoping the waiting is worse than the surgery, because I feel like I am losing my mind.  Waiting was one of the hardest things I had to do.  Look forward to hearing from you. 

Few things to keep in mind:

1.  Don't let your pain get out of control.  Take the pain meds as needed.  I was on pain meds around the clock for the first four days and then only at night for about the next week after that.  I was never in any bad pain at any time during this whole ordeal, but I stayed on top of my pain.  Pain is a lot like fighting a fire.  If you put it out sooner rather than later you can use less water and get it out faster.  Same thing with pain meds.

2.  It's not uncommon to lose weight after surgery, so don't be alarmed if that occurs.   I lost about 12 pounds over about a six week period.  I wish I could say that I kept it off, but no such luck.  

3. Walk, walk, walk.  Don't sit around all day.  Get up and take walks.  My first day out of the hospital I was up walking for 20 minutes or so 3 to 4 times a day.  Don't overdo it, your body will let you know

4. You will need to drink about 2 liters of water a day.  I found it easy to keep track of my water intake by using those 500mL bottles of water. 

Good luck to you and let us know how it goes!

I agree with all the above advice. Someone here suggested the binder and I did not get one until a week out. What a difference that thing makes! Keeps the sore saggy areas supported when you go on those frequent walks. Mine was a 3cm RCC precariously close to the Renal Vein so my Robotic Lap Partial Nephrectomy took almost 6 hours (5 months ago). One of those clips mentioned above popped off and they had to take an hour searching for it (and found it!). I was up walking as soon as the catheter was out, about 8 hours after surgery, but I don't remember those 8 hours nor the catheter removal so it seemed like I got up to go to the bathroom as soon as I was coherent! I spent 4 nights there which was standard at Moffitt Cancer Ctr. The reclining chair was my bed for a couple of weeks. Recovery time is uncomfortable, but not really "painful". Just prepare to feel like blah and binge watch Netflix! Good luck to you both!

Hi there.  My robotic lap partial was on Wednesday the 22nd at Stanford.  The procedure usually takes between 3 and 4 hours.  I'm told mine started around 3 and finished around 6.  The surgeon told me that my lesion (which measured 2.0 cm x 1.7 cm x 1.5 cm was deep in the kidney, but very accessible, which meant the operation didn't take as long.

I had for small incisions and one slightly larger, where a drain is placed.  The sutures on the small incisions are dissolvable, while all they do for the larger incision, once they remove the drain is dress it and the, after 24 hours, you remove the dressing and if there's no leaking, you just leave it be and it seals up on its own.  the sutured incisions are also left open and dry.  I was fortunate that I had no leaking.  If you do, just redress it until the leaking stops.

i recall a nurse having me stand at around 9 or 10 at night on the day of the surgery.  I think I lasted all of 30 seconds before getting kind of whiny.  But it felt okay.  I woke about every hour or so that night, not from pain, but from a really dry mouth.  I had been cleared for liquids and drank a lot of water.

The next morning, blood was drawn and the majority of the surgical team (excluding the surgeon) came in and explained what they did, which resulted in the removal of a medium sized marble of my kidney.  They sliced the marble open to make sure they got all of the lesion before closing me up.  I was immediately advanced to a regular diet, the catheter was removed (thank GOD!) and I was told I could go home if I peed within six hours, ate and kept it down, walked and felt my pain was under control.

well, I had French toast, which tasted great as I was starving at around 7, then yogurt and a banana at 10 and salmon a little later.  I peed in about 2-1/2 hours.  I walked once with the nurse, then on my own pretty much the rest of the morning, so at noon, the surgeon came by and tossed me out.  So, from the operation started to the time I was released was less than 24 hours.

Pain has been minimal.  My right hip is sore and a nice ugly bruise developed overnight and there's a pain at the very tip of my shoulder, but there is no need for medication.  I am taking stool softeners, just to not require any straining.  I've been walking quite a bit, with a morning walk of about 45 minutes, then 30 minutes after lunch and another 30 after dinner.  But I'm a gym rat, so I love walking, running, cycling and weights.  But the walking is very important.  Make sure you walk as much as you can.  Gas gets pumped into your abdomen during surgery so they have room to maneuver, and walking helps to disperse it.

The pathology takes about a week to perform, so I'll be getting a call sometime this week as to whether the lesion was malignant or not.  But I've been assured by the surgeon, and just as importantly, by some of the folks on this website, that the chances of a spread or a recurrence are extremely small.

My dad, who had some 15 operations in his life, once told me that the only minor operation is on someone else.  But I can tell you from VERY recent experience that this operation is far easier to take than your mind is likely telling you.

If you need any more information, feel free to write to me and I'll share whatever I can.

Good luck!