Open Radical Nephrectomy on Tuesday

Bugs Bollox said:

Thanks

I appreciate all the encouragement. This is going to take some time and patience. Just pacing myself, taking daily walks in the woods and lots of naps.

One step at a time.

Hi,

The very best of luck with your recovery Bugs. Taking daily walks and lots of naps sounds like exactly the right approach. I think it's also really helpful to have a forum like this where you can find support and encouragement from people who have been through a similar experience because I think it's quite difficult for others to entirely understand what this feels like. Once you have got the pathology results, you will be able to process stuff and hopefully gradually start to regain your strength. The way I thought about it coming up to my partial nephrectomy was I have got to get this in the rear view mirror and you have done that by having the op. Wishing you well. 

Bugs Bollox said:

Pathology Report

The pathology report came back. The kidney tumor turned out to be cancer. They removed it completely along with the adrenal gland. Cancer was contained; margins were clear. Whew.

I'm getting various aches and pains, including frequent back pain, that are probably normal surgery-related things. But two weeks after surgery I'm also feeling heavy fatigue much of the time. I wonder if that has to do with the adrenalectomy. I did lose a lot of weight. Has anyone experienced this? Does it pass?

Everybody goes through the fatigue. In the weeks after my neph, I took more naps than I probably have since I was a toddler. 

My post-neph back pain came and went. It definitely freaked me out at first, and my mind always wandered back to "maybe it's the cancer". In the end, it's just the body healing up. You've been through a lot, so try to take it easy. If the discomfort continues, don't be afraid to mention it to your doctor. But everything you're describing sounds normal to me.

Bugs Bollox said:

Whew!

Whew!

So the weight comes back?  Crap!

yep, the weight comes back! And right now other than walking there is nothing I can do about it. 

Your back pain is most likely surgical pain, and also muscular strain from how different you are holding your body when you move, walking, sitting, sleeping.  That being said, if you are very concerned that the back pain is not going away, or getting worse, you should call your doctor and ask for an MRI of your back.  It's going to take a couple months to feel alot better, and perhaps six months to feel almost normal.  My husband worked half days for awhile.  On days he felt great, he would do too much and end up having a couple pajama days.  He had to learn to pace himself and not overdo.  He still struggles with overdoing it.   I hope you have a quick and uneventful recovery.  (Make sure you get your own written reports of the scans, operative report and pathology report).