Finally got a date for surgery.

Hi welcome to this friendly forum. Congratulations on getting a date for your surgery and not long to wait either.  Firstly everybody’s partial nephrectomy is different. Different position of tumours, different number of kidney arteries so recoveries are different also. I has a lovely relaxed surgeon who put his music on whilst preparing me and the robot for surgery. This helped relax me too. I woke up after surgery and the nurse took me to my ward. IA few hours later I got the expected gas pains. My pain relief was mainly paracetamol via drip. It is rather unpleasant the gas bit. You have to try and burp to rid yourself of it and I had some peppermint drink to help. My particular experience was slightly different from there and you can read my bio on that bit if you want as I don’t want to alarm you. I was discharged about 4 days later maybe in the 5th. My recovery at home was very quick after that. Very little pain once the ginormous bruise had gone ( the whole side of the incision area) I had 7 little stitches which fell out and dried up very quickly. I had a shower day after getting home. Good job because I didn’t even have a wash in hospital. I didn’t need any further pain relief not even paracetamol. I was looked after by my husband and stayed upstairs for a couple of days mainly so my dog would not jump up. I ate and drank as normal. Appetite came back gradually. I ate nothing in hospital apart from discharge day so they could see I could pee. You have a catheter in so when it comes out they check everything works properly again, mine was fine as were my bowels. I had to self inject fragmin for 4 weeks at home after discharge. So was given my needles and sharps bins too. This was due to the other operation I think. No one explained why I was just handed it all and some instructions. It was fine. Anyway my recovery after my operations was really straight forward. I went for little walks gradually extending them. I am retired early so there was no rush which actually made recovery quicker I think. I used a pillow to support my tummy and sleep was tough for a couple of months but no great issues. My partial was end of Feb 2023 and we flew to Mexico 31st May 2023 for two weeks to celebrate my retirement ! I was on the beach with a nice flat tummy by then ( in a swimsuit) but my scars where gone really. Remember this is my experience (long winded but that’s me). Take care any questions feel free to ask. Angie 

That’s really helpful, thanks very much. Sounds like you’re doing well. I’m struggling to get into your bio but will keep trying! 

Hi

i had a robot assisted partial nephrectomy 12 months ago.The cancer was found incidentally so was a huge shock. 
My recovery was very good. I was in hospital for two days and managed to get going fairly quickly. The wind pain was controlled with paracetamol, Moving about definitely helped, 

A nurse walked with me to the bathroom the day after my surgery. She pinned the drain to my nightie so that it was out of the way. I was able to wash myself and didn’t need any help. On the way back to my bed I felt  light headed and sickly. 

i had no problems sleeping, i found it more comfortable lying on the operated side.  It helped to shift the wind. I had blood thinning injections for 28 days, this was a bit of a nuisance but manageable. My appetite wasn’t brilliant, it started to come back gradually. Good nutrition is key to recovery so i did try hard to eat even when i didn’t particularly fancy anything.The scars healed without any issues. I did take good care of the wounds and used bio oil once the dissolvable sutures had gone.  

We had a holiday booked before my diagnosis and didn’t want to cancel it.10 days post op i was on a cruise ship.

The waiting for the operation was far worse than the surgery itself. You will find friendly people on the forum to help you through. Good luck 

Thank you very much. That’s amazing that you were able to go on your cruise! Sounds like you did really well. 
you’re right about the waiting! If’s been murder so now I’m relieved to be getting on with it and apprehensive about actually going through it! 

I agree with Maggie12 the waiting is far worse. Once you’re waiting to go to surgery the fear actually disappears and honestly, it’s not nearly as bad as you will be thinking it will be. I had a few problems because I had an extra kidney artery. That’s pretty rare but apart from that little episode I recovered really quickly and like Maggie was holiday in the sunshine not long after ! x

Thank you, so encouraging to hear such positivity. Can’t wait to be travelling again!!