What pain to expect after 5 weeks

Hi Dunn555 

I’m Anne, one of the Community Champions here on the Online Community and, although I'm not a member of this group, I noticed that your post hadn't had any replies yet. Responding to you will 'bump' it back to the top of the discussion list again.

Still being in pain must be very difficult to cope with. Have you spoken to your surgical team or cancer nurse specialist to see if they can help?

While you're waiting for replies, it would be great if you could put something about your diagnosis and treatment into your profile as it really helps others when replying to you and also when looking for someone on a similar pathway. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. To do this click on your username and then select 'Profile'. You can amend it at any time and if you're not sure what to write you can take a look at mine by clicking on my username.

Hi Dunn,

We each have different experiences - no two people have the same amount or location of pain, or the same length of healing time needed. I think I've seen about as many different pain and healing experiences in this forum, as there are people describing them!

As you have a six-week follow-up approaching, make a list of these queries to ask at that meeting. Your consultant and team will do their best to give you guidance on what to expect, whether what you are experiencing is anything to worry about, and anything you should be doing or not doing at this stage.

I had the swollen abdomen for several weeks. It only went down (and still isn't completely how it was before) maybe two or three weeks ago. I don't recall exactly, but I know it was swollen for ages, though the swelling oddly didn't start until after the bruising went down! I am now twelve weeks in (surgery was on 1st April). 

The first healing milestone seems to be six weeks. That's when they tell you you can start doing things like hoovering, gardening, running, etc etc and they say, if you do an activity and it causes pain, stop the activity and revisit it a few days later. So perhaps you could try lifting the kettle in your left hand for a while? (that's one thing I  tried to remember to do!) and they also say, don't bend from the waist but use your knees. Well, that wasn't possible for me as my knees won't take much bending, so I just kind of half-bent half-squatted instead!!! It was tricky for me as I have a high pain threshhold so my worry was that I might be damaging something by doing actions such as bending, and not feeling pain from it so I very carefully had to restrict my movement whilst not having the warning of pain to tell me I might have done too much.

Once you reach that six-week mark, and you have your follow-up, the next stage of healing seems to follow on from there. Week by week, you will probably find that part of your daily activity gets easier. I vaguely remember how difficult it was for me to get out of bed in the first week or two! but almost imperceptibly, your body heals bit by bit and in another six weeks you should find a great deal of improvement from where you are at now.

Hi Dunn555

my radical nephrectomy op was 4 months ago now and I’m fully back to normal with just the odd occasional little niggle on the side of the kidney removal. 
I remember at first I was in real discomfort for the first few weeks when I first sat up in bed in the morning….i developed a roll and shuffle type of movement to try and lessen the horrible feeling I had going from lying to sitting!

I took everything at my own pace and didn’t try to rush anything. I must say though that I started walking down to the shops probably after a week, and the walking I feel definitely helped my movement, plus of course then you have the benefit of getting out into the fresh air (I didn’t shop, just walked there and back..about half a mile each way).

I think I attempted to do some squats a few weeks in …..I got half way down on my first one and immediately decided against it but am easily capable of doing them now. 

Our bodies and recovery time are all different but it’s always worth talking directly to your specialist nurse and they will have the right advice for you and put your mind at rest. I’ve rang mine 3 times now ….once to ask if it’s ok to have my hair dyed at the hairdressers …..(it is as I’m on immunotherapy but wouldn’t have been able to if I’d been on chemotherapy). So, please don’t think any questions are too trivial or you’re expecting too much? Remember, we have never been in this situation before and basically we’re clueless about it all …or was that just me?) …..but they’ve heard it a thousand times, and can easily quell your fears and doubts. Good luck with your recovery x

Thank you . I have gone back to my normal routine of looking after grandchildren , doing things in house , walking . I’m not going back to my dance class yet , might wait till 8 weeks post op for that as a lot of stretching and twisting. Thought I’d try my tai chi class this week . ( I’m at week 6 now) I’m finding I’m more and more exhausted all the time but that’s probably my rheumatoid arthritis as I’m off of my medication and struggling with that pain.  You’re right , never been in this situation before and just trying to listen to my body . X