6 Months Post partial nephrectomy and so low

Hi Steve

Sorry you're feeling so awful. Have you mentioned your pain to your oncologist? It can help them direct what they're looking for in the scan.

This is how my met was discovered - pain in what I thought was my shoulder and though I'd had my regular CT scans following surgery which seemed clear, my oncologist ordered a bone scan and it was found in that. When the CT was reviewed it was there, just not obvious and we weren't really looking for it.

Tiredness following a nephrectomy is normal. My surgeon told me up to two years after a full, so barley 6 months after a partial seems perfectly normal. That coupled with the fact that your liver function is out it's not surprising you're feeling fatigued.

Before my op I lived life at a million miles an hour. After, I learned to accept that some days I just needed to listen to my body and rest - just not push it. In fact pushing too hard made me feel worse. It's the same to this day.

Hopefully when you get your results they will be positive and your fears alleviated and you'll naturally start to feel better. Fear is a truly horrible emotion to contend with. It's crippling.

Your mental health is equally as important as your physical health - in fact I sometimes think more so. I can cope with my physical health, because I have my mental health. If you feel you're slipping you have options. Macmillan offer counselling session. It's often easier to talk to someone a little distanced from yourself rather than feel you're burdening family. It's worth asking about seeing someone if you think it could help to talk.

Alternatively, use your GP in tandem with you oncology team and consider anti-depressants if counselling isn't your thing - it's not for everyone. Have a chat and see what your options are if you feel you're sliding. Recognising that you are is a huge achievement in itself, in fact I think that's more difficult than actually going and doing something about it,

I really hope your scan is clear, but if by any chance it's not, there are plenty of us here who are living proof that a met isn't the end of the world at all.

Fingers crossed for you.

Hi ,

Sorry to hear that you are struggling but there is not a lot I can add to what Jo has said.  The one thing I would say is that I struggled after my operation and had a post op bleed which I had to be readmitted for and have some blood transfusions.  It took me some time to recover and the fact I was still recovering from the operation masked the fact that I was anaemic.  I was put on tablets to increase my iron and soon started to feel better.  If you have not had this checked it might be worth asking your GP to check it.

All the best,

Gragon x