Hello, diagnosed in January, had partial nephrectomy in April - any advice on tiredness?

Oh yes... very normal. Don't fight it. Rest, rest, rest. Eat well, exercise only as much as you feel up to. Good luck with your recovery.. we are all different but it usually takes longer than they tend to tell you. Self-care is so important. I am almost 6 months in from a full nephrectomy and only the last few weeks have I finally felt almost normal energy levels. I am 74 so that may be part of it if course!

Hi Betster and welcome!

I had my surgery on 1st April - partial nephrectomy, robotic. Mine too was a chance find, when they were scanning two years ago before my hysterectomy, and I have been on active surveillance since, until I decided to bite the bullet before it started to grow.

Everyone is different. I live my life on inbuilt adrenalin and haven't felt tired at all since day one. That's unusual however, I understand, as almost everyone I've come across suffers from some level of fatigue afterwards, and this can be for a couple of weeks or sometimes many weeks or more, so yes unlike me you are very normal!! 

I am currently having issues with my incisions. They stitched them then sealed with glue. The glue was still stuck rock solid three weeks later and I got an appointment with a nurse on Tuesday who removed it all. Suggested putting a steroid OTC cream on it, as my main issue was that since about the start of the second week I had been getting an allergic reaction - itching and redness, and it was getting worse. On my medical records it states quite clearly that I am allergic to "dressing glue" (discovered last time) but they still smothered me in surgical glue!! I still have inflammation and rashes around and over all my incisions except the tiniest one, and it seems I'm also allergic now to the cream, which I have used successfully in the past on several occasions for various reasons but never near surgical incisions before  so I'm off again this aft to the doc to see what can be done as I'm concerned it will affect my incisions healing, to have them inflamed and spotty. I think this allergic reaction is quite unusual too, and it usually shows itself within the first few days and in direct reaction to something such as glue that they have put on you - so I doubt you will get that now if you haven't already.

Just take things slowly. I was doing fine and bouncing off the walls to not be allowed to drive for at least four weeks - until this allergy hit me. Perhaps that was 'meant' to put a rein on my enthusiasm and perceived ability to get back to normal! - as, I almost don't feel like driving any more atm as I'm so itchy, and sore where the inflammation is. I don't think it's infected - it's almost certainly the glue they put on me that started all this.

What I did after my last surgery, even though I didn't feel I needed to, was rest on the bed reading or doing puzzles, about two hours on then three hours off then two hours on, and so on. For the first 2 or 3 weeks at least. However, this time my itchiness has made it hard to stick to this routine, as I cannot get very comfy on the bed unless I'm literally lying completely motionless on my back and "thinking away" the itching.  It worked really well for me last time though, and I was recovered really quite quickly as a result, so I would say, try making yourself lie down regularly throughout the day if you can, and keep that up for as long as you feel you can or need to. Walk a little bit more each day. Don't do anything heavy for a good while yet. (I am still putting the washing on the line three items at a time, and taking them in when dry by the same method!! - ie, not carrying a basket full of items.)

Something I was told by the doctor this aft (who prescribed some Epimax as an emollient, and already it's soothing my rash) is that the second three weeks of recovery is a vast change from the first three weeks. This was in relation to my own situation which was my incisions, rash and soreness, but it may well apply also to healing in general; in other words, you may find that by weeks 4-6 you are feeling a lot less tired than you are at the moment.

Keep resting where you can, though. That can only be good, and will likely speed up your healing too.

I had the same thing 3 years ago and it definitely takes time to get over the surgery - like any op. Listen to your body and take it easy - it took me 6-8 weeks to feel a little like myself … rest up and let family and friends help, certainly the internal recovery takes time. You’ve got this good luck!