Partial nephrectomy Advice

I'm 37 female about to get a partial nephrectomy. After reading the other entries, now I'm a little freaked about recovery. Do y'all have any pre-op advice?

I had a right open partial nephrectomy on May 21.  It's now right at six weeks and I am pretty much back to normal.  My biggest problem was a pinched nerve in the opposite leg.  Leave it to me to have a weird after effect from surgery.

Recovery was slow going but tolerable.  I was home on the third day (a four hour drive, that was fun) and walked 1/2 mile on the sixth.  I slept on my nice soft couch for a few weeks since our firm mattress was just too uncomfortable. 

I was able to take care of myself right from the beginning, with a little bit of help getting up and down.  The hardest thing for me was putting our dachshund outside.  She goes on a leash and since she's only about six inches tall I could not get low enough to reach her.

I had a few weeks before the surgery so I shopped, cooked and froze meals ahead of time.  I was well prepared so I really didn't need much help at all. 

I was really surprised at how much easier it was that what I had imagined.  You'll do fine!

 

One more thing.  One of the hardest things for me the first week was getting up and down in the bathroom.  I had a friend drop off a walker which I sat next to the toilet.  I only used it for a week, and only to get up and down in there, but it was a lifesaver.

On 6/29/2009 jennro wrote:

I'm 37 female about to get a partial nephrectomy. After reading the other entries, now I'm a little freaked about recovery. Do y'all have any pre-op advice?

Hi, I had a NSS(nephron sparing partial nephrectomy) on April 6th of this year. It's not a cakewalk but healing is individual, but you will do fine. I had 5 keyholes for a 1.7 cm tumor. The tumor was small, it was just in a dicey place. You can pick thru my blog on Caringbridge; I have alot of links on RCC, but also some entries on the before surgery stuff. Good luck with your surgery! Hunter. www.caringbridge.org/visit/Lonewolf

I am about 3 weeks out of surgery and I feel fine. I am 51 and in good shape. I was nervous prior to surgery. I have rarely been sick throughout my life, so when the cyst was discovered I was terrified. Honestly the 2 days right after surgery were not very comfortable but on day 3, I started to perk up and even stopped the pain meds. I was going up and down stairs easily on day 6. Walked 2 miles on day 10, 14 and also yesterday. I still get a bit tired during the day but that does not bother me. I am not eating salt, fatty or fried foods and I am drinking lots of water. I have no pain at all. Just a little stiffness in the area of the kidney that was partially removed. I walk as much as I can each day. I don't feel 100% yet but I feel really good and really lucky that this disease was caught in an early stage.