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Sallura · December 2016

Hi I stumbled upon this forum trying to do research about what to expect over the next few months. I just had a laproscopic radical right nephrectomy on December 14, 2016. I was sent home from the hospital on the 16th. I had a mass in the right kidney that was originally noted when the ER doctor found a tumor blocking 95% of my colon on Valentine's day. It was diagnosed at stage 2. had a laproscopic hemicolectomy for that and went through 6 months of chemotherapy. I had restageing scans done in October following the end of my chemo cycles. The mass had grown from 2.1×2.2 cm to 2.4×2.4 cm. I was referred to urology and sent for an ultrasound in November. In the ultrasound the mass was noted at 2.7×2.8 cm. That lead to the nephrectomy. I have been finding doing almost anything the past 2 days extremely painful. I appreciated being able to read what others went through. My husband and I are terrified that even this won't be the end of our saga. I have no family history of any kind of cancer. I am even thinking of taking a medical leave of absence from my college classes until spring. I am currently enrolled in collage but my professors know I am not going to be in class until the begining of January. One of the professors suggested taking the medical leave. I am currently at home doing nothing but worrying about what I should expect to come. I would love some input on what to expect the next few months from people that have been through something similar to me. I am still waiting for the pathology report from the kidney to find out what the mass was. I see my urology oncologist again in the middle of January.

Thanks for any input in advance,

Jessica.

icemantoo · December 2016

Double whammy

Jessica,

Sorry you had to join our club. Hopefully the neph will be enough for what is a relatively small kidney mass. Hopefully not Cancer, but probably is. Tumors under 4 cm rarely spread. Give it a few weeks to see if you need that medical leave. Typically those in their 30's have an easier recovery although you probably don't feel that way 4 days out.

Icemantoo

stub1969 · December 2016

Hi, Jessica

I remember vividly the feelings you describe when I found out about the mass on my right kidney. I searched frantically for information about what this could be. Fortunately, I stumbled on this site in my rush for information. The people on this board helped calm me down and reassured me about the procedure that was coming my way. One big item that was stressed to me was to stop searching the internet. Much of the data is out-of-date. Since you are young your recovery will be a little easier, but take your time to heal. Day after day the pain starts to subside and you'll find yourself doing more and more. Your pathology report will be coming in a few days. Until then, I'd second the advice Iceman gives. Give yourself a couple weeks to decide about taking a medical leave. Remember--Your mass was small, which plays very favorable in your odds that you will be rid of this disease. Keep up with your scans and enjoy life.

Stub

JerzyGrrl · December 2016

TWO DAYS HOME?!

Jessica,

I had my neph the day before you did and my tumor was similar in size. You've found "doing almost anything the past 2 days extremely painful." Of course you do. You just had major surgery, even if the incisions are small. You had a surgeon cut you open, move your innards around, and take out an organ. Not to mention, if you are terrified and doing "nothing but worrying" that's not going to help your level of pain. You're body's been clobbered by months of your other treatment, by your surgery, and now worry.

Are you normally a worrier? If not (and heck, even if you are) it might help to bring the info about your anxiety and pain to the doctor's attention. Also, it might not hurt to see if anxiety and/or increased pain are possible side effects of any of your medications. Then perhaps some meds can get tweaked. What do you normally do to get calm, relaxed (OK, soaking in a hot tub, gourmet ice cream, booze, and sex are out for a while -- but aside from that)?

Wednesday, I was ready to cancel everything on my calendar for 2017 (that is, if I could hold a thought in my head long enough to get to the end of it) I felt so miserably horrid. Then as the hours / days passed the cancel-everything timeframe got shorter and shorter. You'll feel better. Honest.

Like Iceman said, give yourself a little time before you decide whether to take the medical leave or not. If you arrive at the place where you think you probably can handle it if you work really really hard and suck it up and... Take the leave. And if you do take it, use that time to do healthy wonderful things for yourself that nourish your body, spirit, mind, and relationship(s). Hold yourself accountable to being good to yourself, yet remember to be gentle with yourself. This is uncharted territory for you.

So sorry you find yourself in life circumstances that have brought you to this club, but glad that you've come here.

Keep us posted --

Jerzy

mlph4021 · December 2016

I also had my surgery the day

I also had my surgery the day before you, on the 13th! So many of the same feelings, but I am already feeling stronger and better than I did last week. Yesterday I had the strangest stabbing pain on my right side, where my kidney was, for about a full minute and then it went away. I have been off the pain pills now for almost a week. I felt completely helpless and hopeless last week, and that may return, but for today I feel pretty ok. Not great, not terrible, but I will take it.

Jojo61 · December 2016

It is very scary to receive

It is very scary to receive this kind of news. You do need to take time to heal on the inside. It is a huge surgery. However, I think if you follow the doctor's advice you will find yourself improving each day! But do monitor it, and if it doesn't improve (it should improve daily) please call your doctor. I was back to work within 6 weeks.

Hang in there!

Hugs

Jojo

Footstomper · December 2016

mlph4021 said:
I also had my surgery the day
I also had my surgery the day before you, on the 13th! So many of the same feelings, but I am already feeling stronger and better than I did last week. Yesterday I had the strangest stabbing pain on my right side, where my kidney was, for about a full minute and then it went away. I have been off the pain pills now for almost a week. I felt completely helpless and hopeless last week, and that may return, but for today I feel pretty ok. Not great, not terrible, but I will take it.

Stabbing Pain?

Are you doing all your breathing exercises?

foroughsh · December 2016

The kidney tumors are usually

The kidney tumors are usually larger once they are cought, your tumor is really small and I bet it's stage one,tumors confined to the kidney and smaller than 7 cm are stage one and the chance to remain cancer free after nephrectomy is more than 85℅

Stay positive, the odds are with you

Forough

mlph4021 · December 2016

Footstomper said:
Stabbing Pain?
Are you doing all your breathing exercises?

Hmmm, no one TOLD me to do

Hmmm, no one TOLD me to do any breathing exercises??? I know there was a device in my hospital room I half heartedly did a few times to make that particular nurse go away and leave me alone. On my own I have been taking deep breaths and holding them because I had been feeling as though I couldn't get a full breath, that seems to be improving. My sharp stabby pains I think are coming from where they placed that clamp on my rib for the tool that held my liver up. When I described the pain to the surgeon, he seemed confident that's what it was. Said maybe the nerve had gotten pinched?

Footstomper · December 2016

mlph4021 said:
Hmmm, no one TOLD me to do
Hmmm, no one TOLD me to do any breathing exercises??? I know there was a device in my hospital room I half heartedly did a few times to make that particular nurse go away and leave me alone. On my own I have been taking deep breaths and holding them because I had been feeling as though I couldn't get a full breath, that seems to be improving. My sharp stabby pains I think are coming from where they placed that clamp on my rib for the tool that held my liver up. When I described the pain to the surgeon, he seemed confident that's what it was. Said maybe the nerve had gotten pinched?

Breathing exercises

Using that plastic gizmo (I cant remember what its called) is really important in your recovery. You dont want pneumonia. Actually I cant remember why, but other people will, I'm sure.

mlph4021 · December 2016

Footstomper said:
Breathing exercises
Using that plastic gizmo (I cant remember what its called) is really important in your recovery. You dont want pneumonia. Actually I cant remember why, but other people will, I'm sure.

Hmmm

They didn't send that home with me. I will Google and see what I can do on my own. Like I said, I am being mindful of taking deep breaths often and it seems to be helping with the feeling I was having of not being able to take a full breath. Today is one full week back to work as well, though I do work from home, but I am already pretty active again and walking a lot. The 3 days I worked last week I took a "lunch" and lay on the couch for an hour to rest. Two days down this week, and no lunch breaks, so I am seeing real progress. Still taking it pretty easy on myself, but I even managed to do the dishes and clean up the gross kitchen last night. Hubby and kids had been taking pretty good care of things for me, then it all turned to disaster, ha ha.

hardo718 · December 2016

mlph4021 said:
Hmmm
They didn't send that home with me. I will Google and see what I can do on my own. Like I said, I am being mindful of taking deep breaths often and it seems to be helping with the feeling I was having of not being able to take a full breath. Today is one full week back to work as well, though I do work from home, but I am already pretty active again and walking a lot. The 3 days I worked last week I took a "lunch" and lay on the couch for an hour to rest. Two days down this week, and no lunch breaks, so I am seeing real progress. Still taking it pretty easy on myself, but I even managed to do the dishes and clean up the gross kitchen last night. Hubby and kids had been taking pretty good care of things for me, then it all turned to disaster, ha ha.

It's called an Incentive Spirometer

MLPH I'm a former Respiratory Therapist and shame on them at the hospital for not insuring that you took it with you when you were discharged. Believe me, you were charged for it. Since you don't have it, make sure to take about 10 slow, deep breaths every hour when you're awake, especially during the first week or two after surgery. Hold that breath for a 5 count if possible. The whole reasoning for the deep breaths is to avoid pneumonia from setting in. Between the abdominal surgery, anesthesia, pain meds and laying around more than usual we tend to breathe a bit more shallow....not good for the lungs.

Hope this helps.

Donna~

WhatIsLife · December 2016

Laparoscopic Right Radical Nephrectomy

Hi Jessica,

I'm new here too, and can't really comment on much of what you are worried about as it's all too new to me at this point to give you an informed opinion, but I had the same type of surgery you had, and as others have noted, you are going to be in pain for awhile. I mean, I was taken aback by how painful it was - and I've had surgery before - about 6 years ago I had back surgery, a spinal fusion, and I though that was painful, but that was nothing compared to this! So please give your body time to heal. My doctor told me to walk as much as I could, and I did and I found that did help with the pain, but mostly it takes time.

Anyway, good luck!

Kevin

mlph4021 · December 2016

hardo718 said:
It's called an Incentive Spirometer
MLPH I'm a former Respiratory Therapist and shame on them at the hospital for not insuring that you took it with you when you were discharged. Believe me, you were charged for it. Since you don't have it, make sure to take about 10 slow, deep breaths every hour when you're awake, especially during the first week or two after surgery. Hold that breath for a 5 count if possible. The whole reasoning for the deep breaths is to avoid pneumonia from setting in. Between the abdominal surgery, anesthesia, pain meds and laying around more than usual we tend to breathe a bit more shallow....not good for the lungs.

Hope this helps.

Donna~

Awesome

Thank you! That is about what I have been doing "on my own" anyway. Like I said, I did have the sensation that I was getting enough air into my lungs post surgery. So, I was basically doing this on my own to see if it would improve and it has been. I did not really like the hospital I was at, or most of the nursing staff. I was shocked when I would ask for pain meds and they never told me no. So I asked the nurse why I was always being told yes and she told me it was because enough time had passed. I then asked, "then why didn't you give it to me already?" and she told me I had to ask for it. I am talking the day of surgery. You would think that would be automatic?? Why did I have have to be in so much pain if it wasn't necessary? Not a great policy in my opinion.

hardo718 · December 2016

mlph4021 said:
Awesome
Thank you! That is about what I have been doing "on my own" anyway. Like I said, I did have the sensation that I was getting enough air into my lungs post surgery. So, I was basically doing this on my own to see if it would improve and it has been. I did not really like the hospital I was at, or most of the nursing staff. I was shocked when I would ask for pain meds and they never told me no. So I asked the nurse why I was always being told yes and she told me it was because enough time had passed. I then asked, "then why didn't you give it to me already?" and she told me I had to ask for it. I am talking the day of surgery. You would think that would be automatic?? Why did I have have to be in so much pain if it wasn't necessary? Not a great policy in my opinion.

Good for you!

Thrilled that you listened to the messages your body was giving you about taking deeper breaths.

Regarding the pain meds & lack of thorough instructions for breathing exercises, I have a couple of things to say about that:

1. Maybe that facility is one of those where the staff is stretched too thin. A terrible thing for the patients, far too popular with CFO's

2. Your doctor may have ordered your pain meds to be administered "PRN", which means as needed. That might work well with mole removal, lol. When you have your follow-up appt you might want to verify with your doctor for a couple reasons: if he actually ordered it that way he needs some education and if he didn't, he needs to be aware of the fact that you weren't getting it unless you requested it.

Best wishes,

Donna~

Sallura · December 2016

Thanks all of you

The pain has improved daily. I have been doing small bouts of moving around since the doctor did want me walking. My husband has been taking great care of me. I wasn't given breathing exercises, or even one of those incentive spirometer. I can say taking deep breaths or coughing still hurts a lot. I do try to take as deep a breath as I can while I am up. It does help reduce the pain of deep breathing. I find I can take deeper breaths each day. I appreciate all the input.

mlph4021 · December 2016

Sallura said:
Thanks all of you
The pain has improved daily. I have been doing small bouts of moving around since the doctor did want me walking. My husband has been taking great care of me. I wasn't given breathing exercises, or even one of those incentive spirometer. I can say taking deep breaths or coughing still hurts a lot. I do try to take as deep a breath as I can while I am up. It does help reduce the pain of deep breathing. I find I can take deeper breaths each day. I appreciate all the input.

Sneezing

Is the worst for me! Brings tears to my eyes and a pain to my side. I am happy your pain is improving. Mine is too, but I did find myself taking half a painkiller last night. Ibuprofen probably would have covered it, but I am afraid to take ibuprofen because I want to protect my remaining kidney. Ha ha

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