Outpatient nephrectomy?

I had a robotic partial in mid-2016.  I checked in at noon the day of the surgery.  The operation was from 3 to about 6PM.  I was in my room at about 7PM, woken up by my niece screaming in my ear.  i was released the next day at 1:30PM, so 25-1/2 hours in the hospital.

I've never heard of the partial being done as an outpatient, although, because the robotic equipment was housed there, my operation was done in the outpatient surgery clinic.  With me, they wanted to be sure I could urinate (because of the damn catheter) and that any pain was under control (I had very little).

Not to alarm you, but this was my experience. 

Because of my health (thin, athletic, good labs) and  age at the time of surgery (33), they told me I should be "in and out" with only a one night stay.

It didn't work out that way. Since my partial was very difficult, I lost a lot of blood and had to stay for 6 days with lots of pain. Recovery was also rough, as I had to sleep on a recliner for 5 weeks. 

I am only telling you this in the off chance that you get "unlucky" like me and need an extended stay - don't be alarmed, it happens. Since everyone told me it would be 1-2 days tops, I had gone in with certain expectations, and got very scared when it didn't work out the way I had anticipated. 

My only advice is to take your "Pre-hab" seriously. Make sure you are staying positive and calm as you get to the surgery date, and that you are going on walks and moving around. I was a nervous stationary wreck for the 4 weeks leading up to my surgery and I think it really took its toll on me and that may be why I needed such a long stay.

Again, not to be alarmist, but I wish someone that had a long stay shared their story with me becuase it scared me a lot.

Sending you love and positivity.

misterace said:

My hospital stay was 6 days

Not to alarm you, but this was my experience. 

Because of my health (thin, athletic, good labs) and  age at the time of surgery (33), they told me I should be "in and out" with only a one night stay.

It didn't work out that way. Since my partial was very difficult, I lost a lot of blood and had to stay for 6 days with lots of pain. Recovery was also rough, as I had to sleep on a recliner for 5 weeks. 

I am only telling you this in the off chance that you get "unlucky" like me and need an extended stay - don't be alarmed, it happens. Since everyone told me it would be 1-2 days tops, I had gone in with certain expectations, and got very scared when it didn't work out the way I had anticipated. 

My only advice is to take your "Pre-hab" seriously. Make sure you are staying positive and calm as you get to the surgery date, and that you are going on walks and moving around. I was a nervous stationary wreck for the 4 weeks leading up to my surgery and I think it really took its toll on me and that may be why I needed such a long stay.

Again, not to be alarmist, but I wish someone that had a long stay shared their story with me becuase it scared me a lot.

Sending you love and positivity.

 

Hey, I was a 68-year old couch potato recovering from two other surgeries when I had my nephrectomy. Three consecutive surgeries in as many months.  I only stayed one night in the hospital, and was hiking (rather slowly) the next week because I knew I needed to walk. You didn't do anything to cause your post-op and recovery problems.  There's very few things anyone does to affect how their body reacts to surgery, anesthesia, and pain meds.

Sheila Mc said:

Thank for your response

I am hoping for one night and a partial, but I have had two ablations in three years so I have scar tissue. My tumor is small so He is going to try to remove the tumor and surrounding scar tissue and save the rest of the kidney. If that isn't possible, he will need to remove the kidney. it is a wait and see situation, but all the responses on here helped me create a list of questions that he was happy to answer. 
thanks again

Best wishes for a short, boring, uneventful surgery.