When do you get your energy back after Kidney removal?

Hi, my husband had keyhole kidney removal in Jan 2010 and I would say it took a good 3 months before he felt energetic again.  He too suffered a lot of after pains and itchy skin, in fact some of the pains literally took his breath away. 

 However, within six months he was really well and a lot more energetic than he was before.  I know at first, like you, I was worried that he would never be the same again (he slept a lot) but to look at him now you would never think he'd been through so much last year.  So give it a couple more months and I'm sure your mother will be feeling a little better.

My husbands going for his six monthly scan in a couple of weeks so fingers crossed he'll still be clear.

Best wishes, Sue

Hi,

I was just as frustrated as had it in my mind that with keyhole id be in hospital 2 days and off work a week or so lol

Had my Kidney removed end of Jan this year, I was desperate to get back to a normal routine and was back working after 5 weeks. Mind you most weeks were 4 days with all the bank holidays and doc's etc., but I still struggle most afternoons but that may be an age thing lol, but there are still times i just need to sleep.

I would agree with Sue , its only been a few weeks and it takes ages for anesthetic to clear her system, in addition the other kidney needs to learn it has more work to do .I guess the same may be with the removal of the  Adrenal Gland , less adrenaline in her system until the other one picks up the slack.

I made a point of walking to the bus stop daily to meet my wife from work, it was only about 400 meters away and was depressingly slow and painful at first but once I could overtake a pensioner with a zimmer I knew things were on the up as had something to measure my progress against.

If your mum listens to her body and does not push too hard she will soon be back swimming etc

Sure she will feel better in a few weeks.

 

Ian

Thanks for your reply - I am reading these to Mum as we get them (she doesn't use the internet).  She saw her GP today who said she is expecting too much too soon.

Such great news he feels so much better and best of luck with the six monthly scan!

Jennyx

Thanks too Ian.

I will read your post to Mum tomorrow - she is in bed now.  Glad to hear you are able to work now - sounds like Mum needs patience.

I have already told her not to push herself but to do something each day but rest every time she needs to.  Must be hard as she had no symptoms at all and went in to hospital feeling just fine and came out feeling understandably awful.

Her GP seems relatively happy with her so hopefully bit by bit her energy will return.

 

Jennyx

Hi Hugh here,

Had the same as your Mum and I was the same no energy.I had no sign's of of a tumour, It was Gall Stones they were checking for. They found a 12cm tumour and had the left kidney out and I needed no further treatment.

I wished someone had let me know that this was normal being tired.My first outing was a trip to the supermarket ,I lasted 5 minutes had to go back to the car came home and slept for two hours.(since then i found this was normal as this is a male thing and completely normal only joking)) I had the operation in Dec 2009 and even now I have days when I just need to sit and rest or have a sleep. I found out just last week that I need to drink a lot of water as I was feeling really weak and had jelly legs over the last few weeks. It takes time and I know you will hear this a hundred times listen too your body. Last week I had my 6 month CT Scan and so far so good.

Everyday you feel a wee bit stronger,stay postive.

Regards

Hugh 

Has anyone else had the jelly leg feeling?

I had the same experience as Hugh, I nice sunny day so I decided to get moving and walk over to a friend's house 200 yds away and had to get a lift home I was so drained. As I speak (8:30pm) I'm forcing myself to stay awake long enough to go to bed at a reasonable time - target 11pm.  I find if I submit and go too early I'm wide awake by midnight and struggle to get back off to sleep. 

I get hardly any exercise other than pottering about the house to make a cuppa, have a nosey at all the weeds in the garden etc.. which tires me a little but I still struggle to get a good night's sleep.  

A month since the op (kidney and plumbing removed) and have little or no pain perhaps a slight ache.  I take heart from the above comments so I'll give it time and hopefully once I can get some exercise (walking to my friends house every day) my sleep will improve.

I've not had the jelly legs but neither have I had instructions to drink plenty of water. Is this a standing order for all of us? Have I missed that one? Will 6 - 8 mugs of tea per day do?

Best wishes to all

 

I am 2.5 years since radical nephrectomy and still require more rest than before.  I think the body has to adjust often to the loss of an adrenal as well as a kidney.  However after the first 6 months I steadily improved by regular walking and gardening exercise.  You have to do a little more each day when you feel able.  I drink about 2 litres of water per day which I think is good for the remaining kidney and less tea and no coffee.  I find plain bottled water more palatable.

Best wishes

P.S. I shall be 70 next year

It is 3.5 years since my wife had her left kidney and adrenal gland removed ( aged 50) and it took at least 6 months before she felt close to normal in terms of strength and fatigue. The kidney removal alone will take it out of you but add losing an adrenal gland too and that will really hit the body.

The important thing is to take it slowly and not to expect too much of yourself or get frustrated because you think  that '  I used to be able to do this/ I should be able to do this ' . Unfortunately recovery doesn't work like that .

As said build things up slowly and don't rush it and most of all listen to your body. If it says 'I'm tired' then listen to it and rest up, there is time later on or tomorrow to do something then. I know my wife slept a lot in those early months and did her no harm at all.

Peter

Hi it's almost a year since my nephrectomy.At my six month check I said to the consultant I should be doing better than this meaning I was still getting tired and lacking in energy.He looked at me and said and who told you that so I said well I did.He then said when we operate it is a major,major assault on the body and it can take at least twelve months for it to recover.I walk every day and can go further than I used to,about 3 miles or so each day,but initially it was just to the paper shop which sometimes felt like a hike up Everest.I still get tired and don't have the energy I used to have but as others have said listen to your body and try to be patient with yourself.Im 62 I recently did the 5K race for life no running involved I walked and I felt good after.It is a day by day thing and it s important not to push yourself to hard I found if I over did things then I was wiped out for a couple of days after so it's not worth it.Good luck to everyone Huge Hugs to all Cruton xxx

Thank you to you all for your replies.  Just to update you and for those who are out there going through similar Mum has a lot more energy now over a year on.  She does sometimes over do things and I think she wants to do everything these days (while she still can ... in her words) and forgets to pace herself.

She has had a few scares along the way (seems to be the way with cancer) with some hot spots in her lungs that they are keeping an eye on but are too small to biopsy and is still on 3 monthly scans because of this.

All in all though she is doing loads more (and possibly more than she should) so very positive.   Dad has cancer too and arthritis so positive news is greatly valued!

I think the drinking water tip is good as she does dehydrate quickly and being down one adrenal gland does probably have an effect on energy levels?

She is trying to persuade us that eating chocolate is beneficial but am not entirely convinced about this one!

Healing vibes to all.

Jx