problems after nephrectomy...anyone else have this?

and I was told that it was perfectly normal after surgery (mine was a partial robotic lap. procedure) and would go away on it's own.  Sure enough, but the time I had my follow-up scans, there was no sign of it.  :-)

Stage 1, chances are slim for cancer recurrence.

God bless,

Donna~

JerzyGrrl said:

What they may have said

It's always a good idea to have someone along to be another listener to what you physician says at an appointment. If you don't have a significant other, find a friend or family member you can trust to be less spacey, stressed, and/or distracted than you might be.

Works wonders, especially since even on a good day, I'm often in a "SQUIRREL!" mode.

I never go alone. If the news is good, I never here the details. If the news is bad I never hear the details.

"SQUIRREL! mode" ?? This means two things: to my whippet (a small greyhound) and to a squirrel meeting my whippet

Pilar03 said:

The bulge

I had a partial nephrectomy due to a giant angyomiolipoma six months ago. I had a bad post-surgical infection (septicemia) and was in hospital for almost 20 more days.

I feel generally fine now - still not my usual energetic self but the Doctor says that is normal.

At the beginning my whole right side (from the groin to my ribs) was completely numb. That has improved a lot and now it is only one section that is numb and a bit sore below the incision, more towards the front (abdomen) than the flank or the back. I too have the horrible bulge; it varies in size (smaller in the mornings and sometimes huge at night), and levels of discomfort (sometimes really painful and uncomfortable, sometimes barely noticeable). 

I also find it hard to accept that nothing can be done about it. One of the things I miss the most after surgery is exercise! I used to exercise at least 2 hours every day before the operation, and I feel I have lost my strength (I literally cannot do one sit up and a plank hurts like hell) and my confidence (I feel terrible trying to jog with the ball on my side). I have spoken to my doctor about it and his answer is basically "get used to it".

I would like to know if anyone has found any effective treatment (I have been advised electro stimulation and a compression garment might help, and been advised against surgery). At the very least, I'd like to know how not the make it worse; for example, if exercise helps or not, and what type of exercise I should do or avoid. 

Did you do the breathing exercises with the gizmo they give you when you leave? Otherwise I think your questions would be better addressed to a doctor.

I had a noticeable bulge on the right side of my stomach for a few months after my operation. It went, although my waist is far from symetrical now as I look at it. At the time I was told it was probably a hernia.

I had numbness also, but much more localized.  It went away for the most part after about a year.

t

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.

i am going in for surgery to remove the bulge and hernia in a couple of weeks.  My original surgery was 17 years ago and 1 year after that developed a hernia which was fixed.  It seems the hernia repair patch worked for a while but now the buldge is bigger and hurts, like when you eat or exercise, even sleep. Sit to long, etc.  He felt another small hernia,  He said he can put a patch under my 6 pak (lol) didn't know I had one, and tie off somehow to remove the buldge from the hernia I now have.  It has to be open surgery not orthoscopic and he said the patch should work since it is under muscle and not on top of it.  He told me the buldge is my intestines and fluid just filling in an empty space left there.  Hopefully these days 2016 and 17 they might be doing nephrectomies different because of this, hopefully this will work, will write you after my surgery to let you know.  NOT looking forward to having another surgery.  

You can see her post on the previous page. Right after Footstomper (RIP). They don't necessarily go in order. She must have responded to a particular post so that's where it was placed.

I just had my surgery last 8/18 for RCC. My incision is under my rib cage and looks like a zipper running across my body. There were 55 staples removed. I still have trouble standing straight and have the numbness and stabbing pain on my left side. I was told by my doctors that it will take a while for it to go away. By reading all the comments it seems that it will take months. I guess I just need to be patient. My surgery was really extensive since my left renal vein was also cut off due to renal thrombosis. A small part of my colon was also removed  due to no circulation. The almost 10mm tumor was pushing into it. The good news is there's no metastasis. I'm petite and couldn't believe I have the big incision adding to my  C section  scar below my belly button. I'm thankful the surgery was a success. The recovery is painful and tiresome. 

LisaD67 said:

Pain from Nephrectomy
Hi Hannah,
My name is Lisa and I had a partial nephrectomy on my right kidney June 7, 2004. I experineced everything you are. I am still in pain and take pain meds. It gets frustrating, but they've run all kinds of tests and don't know why I'm in pain. Keep in mind everyone is different. And healing does take time. Take care and I hope you have some relief soon.

Lisa

My name is Theresa and I just had a partial nephrectomy two weeks ago. I am young (34) and am very healthy (other than this). I exercise, non-smoker, eat healthy and even gave up alcohol to prepare for recovery from my surgery. I am a little bummed as my surgeon did not tell me that this could be possible. I found out by Googling since I was in such bad pain last night and came across this discussion. 

I had robotic surgery that went very well and I even got to go home a day early. I was off pain meds within two days but started them back up last night. The pain is worse now than it has been at any point since the surgery. I was worried that maybe I had an infection so I took my temperature which indicated no fever. 

I have oxycodone but that obviously cannot be a long-term fix as I do need to get back to work and be able to drive. I was curious how people were dealing with pain management?

I do have a great acupuncturist but cannot drive there right now and will be limited to where I can have the needles at this point. I really hate taking pain meds unless a last resort. 

Thank you all for sharing your stories as I have learned quite a bit from all of you.

I know that I need to be patient but today was rough for me. 

-Theresa 

Has anyone else observed how many people have (had) posted only once or twice never to be heard from again? particularly since the topic has had over 50,000 reads!