Recovering from radical nephrectomy

1luckyman said:

i had the same done on april
i had the same done on april 7, yes everything was very fast. i did have the same thoughts about it coming back. my doctor was very encouraged that we got it early and it did not spread. he told me i had a 90% chance i would be cancer free 5 years from now. i was lucky i healed quickly but it could take a few more weeks for you to heal. you will be back in pants very soon.
live your life to the fullest, you just got several years added on

donna_lee said:

Give yourself time. The body takes a while to adjust to one kidney. The other one has to process lots of fluid, the liver slows down. You had anesthesia and the body takes time to get over that, too.
I had RCC-radical nephrectomy 3 years ago. People who ask how you are doing really do mean well; but are coming from a different point of view. They want to hear that you are doing well, recovering, and all the other stuff that makes them feel warm and fuzzy.
If you can find a cancer survivors support group -even on line here- it can help. They know what you've been thru and can offer encouragement.
Hang in there and good luck.
Donna

A_New_Journey said:

I too, recently had a radical nephrectomey
Hi wendyleigh -

I was first diagnosed with cancer in early March, and after getting a second and third opinion, I felt comfortable in my decision to have surgery as soon as I could get everything in order.

My Urologist and Surgeon first performed a cystocopy 2 weeks before the scheduled nephrectomy. The purpose of the cystocopy was to look closely at my bladder, right kidney as well as the right ureter. He suspected that cancer had invaded my right kidney along with the right ureter even though the CT Scan showed the tumor actually positioned on top of my right kidney. His suspicions were correct and this decision really helped him fully plan out the surgery well beforehand. I had my surgery on April 6. The two anesthesiologists for my surgery recommended an epidural, and I agreed, because a friend of mine has a cousin who worked at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and he said to ask for one as recovery right after a radical nephrectomy can be quite painful without it.

My surgeon started the operation by once again performing a cystocopy to make sure that things had not changed from the March 20th procedure. It also gave him another chance to closely look at my ureter to determine how close to the bladder he was going to snip off the ureter. He had hoped to not touch the bladder at all during the surgery. The cystoscopy took about an hour and then he started the procedure to remove my right kidney, ureter, and adrenal gland. The nephrectomey took another 3 hours or so. The surgeon I found was highly skilled in laparoscopic procedures and has completed hundreds of them. He has also had a number or articles in published in various medical journals on this procedure, so I felt very fortunate that he was my surgeon. An open nephrectomy is highly invasive (as you can well imagine), and recovery is longer than if done laparoscopically. I have three small scars where they inserted the small tools and a camera and one incision scar where he removed the tumor, kidney and ureter. The initial plan was for the this incision was to be about 3 inches long, but because the tumor was much larger than he thought (based on the CT Scan), he had to use a 6 inch incision in order to get everything out without harming the bladder.

My recovery in the hospital was better than I expected and I was released after 4 days. My recovery at home went very well too and I felt "back to normal" after only another week.

After surgery, the pathology report showed the size of the tumor was 9.0 x 6.5 x 6.o cm. My cancer was determined to be Stage IIIa. The pathologist's report also showed that my cancer was not fully confined to the kidney and ureter. While there were no other tumors seen, cancer cells were found to be high grade and transitional. This meant that there was a high likelihood of recurring cancer within 3 years unless adjuvant chemotherapy treatments were started shortly (within 6 weeks) after surgery.

I am now undergoing a treatment plan of 4 cycles of chemotherapy. After the final cycle of treatment in early August, I will go in for a PET Scan, and if no active cancer cells are seen, I will need to have a CT Scan and chest X-Ray every 6 months for a 3-year period. If after 3 years there are no cancer cells present, I will be checked every year.

I have heard the phrase "living with cancer" and I think this is what they mean. While I may not have ever have to deal with another tumor again, I still have the possibility of these cancer cells transitioning to some other part of my body for the rest of my life.

I hope this information helps you (and others who may read this) to make a comparison to your ordeal wendyleigh. One thing I have learned so far through this whole "cancer journey" is that every person's cancer is quite different. You need to become as "informed" as much as possible in order to ask the right questions of doctors. As you have already found out, renal cancer is extremely rare and accounts for about 3% of all cancers within the U.S. Therefore, there is very little published information out in the public domain.

I have found the Cancer Survivors Network and the American Cancer Society to be a very valuable resource to me for reliable and actionable information. The cancer center staff where I receive chemotherapy has also been a huge help to me in sorting out all the facts. The chemo nurses there are not only very compassionate, but have been on staff for over 25 years and have seen it all.

Good luck to you and all others in our unique "club".

A_New_Journey said:

Does one need an Oncologist post-surgery?
For what ever it's worth, my Urologist/Surgeon referred me to an Oncologist just prior to my surgery. I am pretty sure the key reason for this was that my Urologist performed a cystoscopy (same-day surgery procedure under heavy sedation) three weeks before my radical nephrectomy, and during this procedure he also took three biopsies. The resulting pathology report showed transitional carcinoma. My Urologist told me that these findings pointed to a high likelihood of needing chemotherapy shortly after surgery, because it was now confirmed that the cancer cells were not confined to the tumor attached to my right kidney.

After my surgery, I asked my Urologist who would now be taking the "lead role" in my ongoing treatment and he said "the Oncologist". I returned to my Urologist 2 weeks and 4 weeks after my surgery for post-op check-ups and will see him again this fall, but only as a follow-up to re-inspect my bladder.

If my cancer was confined to the tumor along with the affected kidney and ureter and the surgery was able to "get it all out", then I doubt I would have been referred to an Oncologist.

I hope this information is of some help to you.

Dave

tictic1 said:

Yes, I feel the same way. I
Yes, I feel the same way. I had my left kidney removed on May 11, 2009. I to still have trouble wearing my pants. My tumor was 9cm. My left side feels funny, it is very hard to explain. I have some people saying, I look to good to be having chemo.. What are you suppose to look like during chemo??? I have alot of side effect {I'm on Torisel once a week}. I just wish people could listen to me when I say I don't feel good or I'm tired.. My kids and husband are doing the best they can, will most of them anyway..

DML0466 said:

radical nephrectomy
I had a radical nephrectomy of my right kindey on Aug 17th they had to go through my 10th & 11th rib and had to do it the old fashioned way resulting in a 10" inssion they also nicked my lung so I had a chest tube. I was wondering if you had the same procedure and how long it was before it felt like your ribs weren't collaping any more