I have a few questions?

duranster
duranster Member Posts: 3
edited March 2014 in Kidney Cancer #1
When you have surgery to get your kidney out, what is the estimated time you are out of work? How many days do you have to wait to go upstairs. I heard you can't go upstairs for three days? What is the difference with recuperation time with laposcopic surgery or regular surgery?

Comments

  • Chicago
    Chicago Member Posts: 73 Member
    #2
    The type of surgery you have will make a BIG difference in your recovery.

    If you know you have to get the whole kidney out, you DEFINITELY want to have it done laproscopically. A much simpler operation. It only requires one hole in your side large enough to pull the kidney out, and a few smaller ones around it to work the instruments.

    I was not so fortunate in my surgery. Since a lot of the kidney was salvageable, I had the partial nephrectomy. That operation entails being sliced open practically from belly to spine, and a rib removed to boot. 40-50 staples on the outside to hold it back together. Not fun. Took about a month to recover most things. I kept most of that kidney though.

    A friend who had the laproscopic procedure last year, on the other hand, was only out for a week. I don't know about the climbing stairs thing. I was climbing a flight of stairs the day they let me out of the hospital. You just have to avoid exerting yourself for a few days.

    Oh, the full operation is minimum 3-4 days in the hospital, but the laproscopy is usually only a day or two.
  • carolinafans
    carolinafans Member Posts: 8
    #3
    My husband is 39 and was diagnosed just before Thanksgiving and had surgery on Dec 4. His tumor was 9-10cm on the right kidney and the procedure was hand assisted laporoscopic surgery. They only removed part of his adrenal gland which we were not aware of until afterwards but all turned out well. His cancer was Stage 2 with a grade 2 cell. Prognosis is great with a 70-90% 5 year survival expectancy and we are very thankful! His Doctor recomended 3 weeks out of work. It will all depend on how well you recover. Surgery for him was Saturday and he came home the following Thursday. He was up the following day walking but stayed in a little longer than we expected due to his reaction to the pain killers, like itching and nausea, and also the bowels had to function before he could go home. He did much better after he stopped taking the painkiller because he was taking other things for nausea and itching. He stopped the painkillers 1 week after surgery and he was so anxious to be out of the house, he was at the mall 2 weeks after surgery.(He REALLY wanted out of the house!)

    Our Faith has brought our family through all of this. We have two children (7 & 10)and tremendous support from family and friends. Our prayers and wishes to you and your family.
  • Jenniefer
    Jenniefer Member Posts: 3
    #4
    Hi my name is Jenniefer and I had my whole left kidney removed at age 6. The hardest thing for me was getting up and then laying down again. I was cut hip bone to hip bone and the next day after making myself get out of bed I walked around for a while. It wasn't so bad for me like I said it only hurt when I tried to sit up and when I tried to lay back down. If you want to talk more e-mail me here at the site or at atian_cat@yahoo.com Hope to hear from you soon!

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