After Nephrectomy

I do sympathise.  I have gained volume rather than a lot of weight.. though I was down half a stone after surgery and am now back where I was, so maybe I have gained in reality!  It is all on my abdomen, especially the operated side,and my legs... very spongy and heavy, and seems like maybe water retention to me. A doctor friend said maybe a lymph issue. So far my GP and the cancer nurses seem to feel it is just fat due to being inactIve. I feel very strongly that is not the case as it has piled on only since the op 4 months ago and I have had to buy bigger trousers to fit.

Very frustrating when it is so hard getting anyone to take you seriously. I have booked to see a private GP to see if she can help...

Yes, all around my abdomen area!! Like a large amount of fluid retention. I sympathise with you too on every single thing! My legs feel heavy and thick by the end of my working day! I've always had a sedentary role and never felt this way before. I don't eat much, no breakfast, apple /pear lunch plus water , and dinner at night. So like you, it's frustrating.  

Hi Jd,

I was going to say too, could it be fluid retention? I also drink my recommended quota of water - and some! - daily and have done for two or three years, mainly because I learned that it helps my bowels which all my life have always been a bit lazy at best - that's another story! 

I am only less than two weeks out of surgery so haven't yet had the same type of experience. I did however have something very odd after my hysterectomy two years ago, when on my left side base of my belly I developed a roll of loose fatty skin which wasn't there before and wasn't like it on the opposite side. My surgeon couldn't find any reason for it and after my asking him at every appointment as it bothered me continually, he suggested that it could be that I had lost weight and that was excess skin. I didn't buy that, as I hadn't lost more than around a pound or two weight and it was unilateral. But in the end I just learned to live with it as he didn't have a feasible explanation and nor did I. And I still have it but I no longer worry over it. 

Not sure about whether diet would help you in this instance but looking at what you eat, it strikes me that you aren't eating much at all during the day, but instead taking in lots of water - actual water, plus fruits that have a large water content.

I don't know enough to say if this has anything in the least to do with it.

However, just as an example, this is my daily diet:

Breakfast: Overnight oats (whole oats soaked in milk with a spoonful of either ground flaxseed or milled chia seeds) with a dollop of marmalade in it, two soft boiled eggs, and a banana. Some days I will have either the oats or the banana but not both, but I always have the eggs for the protein factor.

Lunch: I try to cook my main meal at lunchtime as I work most days from 3pm and don't get home until gone 7pm which is a bit late for a full meal to be digested before bed, never mind that I don't feel like cooking it after four hours on my feet at work!  Lunch ie dinner will be a palm size of meat or chicken or fish, half a plate of various veggies - peas, broccoli, leek, cabbage, lettuce leaf, mixed peppers, sprouts mushrooms, etc etc etc. Then a palm size of swede, carrot and potato mash. I will sometimes swap the mash out for the equivalent quantity of lentils with carrot and onion, and very occasionally half a dozen mini potatoes and even more rarely, a small portion of pasta in passata. I never put any sauces of any kind on any of this. If i need a bit of flavour in my cabbage, I add some ground pepper.

Oh and followed by a small palm size portion of blueberries or raspberries or frozen cherries, with a dollop of plain 10% Greek yogurt on top.

Supper (ie, 7.30pmish after work): Soup. With a bit of grated cheese in it, sometimes a slice of good quality buttered bread. Sometimes I swap the soup out for two handfuls of pasta with mushrooms and a few olives, all cooked in passata or sometimes minus the passata but a bit of grated cheese instead. 

Most people would say my diet is very boring and very samey - no sauces, same three things by way of meat and it's about 7 times out of ten chicken. But I have grown to eat to live, not live to eat, and it's not always easy for me as I think I have too much (or is it too little?) grelin so am always scared of being hungry, even though I rarely am. I've been on this routine for over two years now and on a similar version of it a couple of years before that as well. It suits my work hours and everything else I want to do in my life, as I can bung everything into a wok and a pan on the hob, or in the oven if it's a fish day, and forget about it for twenty mins whilst I go off and do something else!

I have no idea if any of this is of any help, but it was just when you said that you don't eat much until evening and that your intake before then is almost all water-based, that made me wonder if water retention is indeed a possibility here. I am absolutely not a dietician nor have been advised by one, and my regime above is what works for me but I have only got there by piecing together loads of dietary tips gleaned online and from books. That said, I am not even "there" myself!! as, I am the same weight as I have been for two years at least, and it never goes down, although nor does it go up.

Maybe im not eating enough but I feel that  if eat more , I'll gain more. It's definitely like a feeling of fullness continuously around all of the abdominal area. Very odd. Never felt like this before my operation in June last year! Or even after the first month post op, I was nearly 9lbs less. So I put it down to the procedure. Some people might say it isn't. Very deflated. I know some reading this will be thinking " get a grip lady, at least you don't have cancer anymore "  I know that. But what I feel 10 months post operative is also valid!  
I might try having a small breakfast, salad lunch with chicken and smaller dinner. We shall try and see if that changes anything 

I don't blame you for feeling that you will gain more by eating more! That's always at the back of my mind too. A lot of diet is to do with what you eat rather than how much. I think atm I have got the "what" right, but it's the "how much" I am maybe not getting right and this is perhaps why I am not losing weight although not gaining. For example, I pile my plate with plain vegetables as described above. But each veg has calories. Spinach has 18 cals per 80g serving. Peas have 67 cals per 80g serving (and I love peas!!) and cabbage has 17 cals per 80g serving. I figure I have well over 100g of spinach and perhaps also of cabbage, and likely over 150g of peas per serving. So that's not far off 200 cals and that's just some of my plateful of veg and doesn't even take into account the meat or any carbs I might have as well. 

So, I should be eating my veg in moderation and practising what I preach  ("everything in moderation") and I don't!! 

It just struck me that you were taking in so much water and little else until evening. It does sound like bloating rather than weight gain. I actually feel bloated if I drink loads of water, and as I drink my 8 glasses a day plus other fluids, unless I space them out I do feel bloated for parts of every day. But I do eat also, as per above. 

How about trying a boiled egg or a little bit of scrambled, for breakfast? Chicken salad lunch sounds good! And yes a light-ish dinner so that you aren't going to bed with undigested carbs and stuff, but do add a bit of carbs into all this. Eg, a slice of bread with your chicken salad. 

If your bloating is indeed water-based, that kind of meal regime will help soak up the water you are taking in. It may even result in your feeling less bloated but you are obviously careful over what you eat, so I doubt extra food on the level you are thinking of now, will make you gain weight but you can always try it and see, and drop back after a couple of weeks or a month if you feel the weight is going on and you are not happy about that result. 

The procedure could also have something to do with the bloating. From what I've been reading, swelling that is caused by moving things around inside and disturbing nerves and abdominal muscle and other parts, can persist for months even after surgery, or can go away shortly after. Depends on the person. I am struggling to tell the difference between bloating and swelling and what I have currently is definitely swelling as it's unilateral, but I suspect it's all linked into a similar cause, ie trauma to the body during surgery which then can take a short or a long time to repair itself.

"But what I feel 10 months post operative is also valid!  "....absolutely agree with that!! I am here too worrying about a little bit of incision discomfort and a swollen area around the incision, just two weeks after surgery!, when there are others who have gone through and are going through life-changing effects of their diagnosis and surgery. However, how YOU feel is important to YOU. And YOU are the most important person in your life right now. So, don't ever feel bad that you have a seemingly small problem resulting from surgery, despite being cured of the reason for the surgery. It's not small to you - it is very important to you!

Hugs