rare complications after open nephrectomy

nando wrote:

PAfriend wrote:

Thanks nando,  it does feel good to know that we are not alone with the bulge issue.  I hope someone lets us know if a year or two down the road it ever gets better. In the meantime, we just keep healing and keep going on with life. My daughter is engaged and I am trying to focus on the happiness that life is bringing. Good luck to you and to all of us in the recovery mode.

No problem PAfriend we're all teachers and students to each other :D. GUESS WHAT this stuff really helps its called ARNICA. I use the cream on the swollen area and the pain subsides. When I go out I take the pellets or the strips. The strips I think are better the disolve faster and all you have to do is just place it on your tongue. This is a lot better then pain killers which just mess up your PSYCHIC. It homepathic so its safe. I hope this help you. Congrats to your family. remember no matter what any step forward no matter how small it may be is always better then any step backwards so stay true, stay strong. Things do get better :)

Me again yes Nando is back :P I write this hoping that my life obstacles may help comfort anyone willing to read it. I am the proud papa of a 1 by 4 cm hernia in which my large colon decided to move over and push through my right oblique muscle . Yup that's why I still look pregnant lol. Go figure if i would never have complained to my surgeon he would have never elected a cat scan. I have a inverted hernia meaning its bulging inward WOW well back to the hospital coming this April for repair surgery. Got to love that hospital food yukyuk.

I'm so very sorry you are all subjected to this side effect from a Nephrectomy. My husband is experiencing the exact same things you have described after his kidney cancer diagnosis and subsequent nephrectomy. We are continuing to search out a treatment and have exhausted our medical community where we live. Even though this condition is considered rare, it doesn't really matter when you are in the middle of it, you just want help. I have search and researched for a solution and/or help but have yet to come across it. My husbands initial survey was August 2011. He has an appointment with a surgeon at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville in January to begin the search. If nothing results from this appointment we will move on to bigger hospitals where the most help can be found. Mayo clinic, Cleveland clinic, Sloan Kettering....my husband is pretty much willing to do whatever necessary. His bulge is very restrictive as his waist is now 12 inches larger than pre-op. I will post if any help is offered with an acceptable outcome. Blessings to you all. I would love to hear if anyone else has found help and where.

WOW, I thought I was alone and crazy...lol  I had my left kidney removed June 2010 from kidney cancer.  So I have had my BULGE for  18 months now.  Theytell me it is my bowels and intesine bulging because the lining of my stomache, muscles and nerves did not grow sck together.  My insicion is aprox.  14 inches and every part of it is constant pain.  I also get the nerve shooting pains.  I was put on gabapentin 6 months ago. It does take the edge off if I am not active.  I havent found anything to help with the pain, pressure if I am very active.  (walking the dog, vaccuming, standing for a long time ect) 

I too have been to several Doctors and they all have said there is nothing they can do.  The last Doctor was a speciaist and said that trying to repair would leave me with more complications..  They told me it was due to my insides not healing right?     Did any of you have your rib removed?  Hove  you found any other solutions?  I am oly 35 and want to be normal..lol

 

thanks for reading ;-)

Yes I too have been enduring the right side "bulge" from an open radical nephrectomy . I am 57 so the beach is no longer an issue. I have minimal discomfort, just this ugly bulge that moves. My Urologist says is denervation of the nerves or something like that. He also says the nerves will grow back at a whopping pace of 1 mm per month. By my calculations it will be about 2022 b4 i am back in shape....But Doc what about my golf game??? We go on in life i guess curve balls and all.....I was told I had a 95% chance of cancer hence the surgery...thankfully the mass was benign... So i guess take the good with the bad and we can all "show off our "battle scars"

i do not know if you ever check on this website for responses anymore,but i had the same exact surgery three years ago. i had many doctors tell me many things,most inaccurate.I too was told to try a hernia operation,but after looking at my medical files,no one would do it,stating it wouldnt do anygood,possibly making things worse.I had to go on disibility,and am on an opoid based patch.whatever the doctors tell you it isnt in your head. you have a chronic pain issue that you will have to work with your doctor to help maintain your pain level.i feel for you and would be interested in hearing more about your plight.

I am in a similiar situation. I just recently had a liposuction procedure to help correct the constant swelling and pain. I was tired of not having a waist on my right side. It did not work! Would advice against lipo for this. I had only temporary improvement.

Hi- right after my partial nephrectomy-for no good reason-I had an undiagnosisable tumor which was benign...I started accupunture right away The therapist did needles right near the incision. Eight years later, I still get a little pain and I do swell. I tried lipo but it didn;t help much. You can also try Cranio Scaral therapy. I did not have a rib removed. Give accupunture atleast 4-6 tries. Have atleast two CS treatment. It can be amazing how it can work.

I had open surgery on my left side to remove a very large kidney stone. I went back 1 week afterbeing released from the hospital and thr dr. said it was normal, I went bck twice more and each time I was told it was normal. I am now 11 weeks post surgery and my side hurts from my spine to my navel with the swelling the entire lengthof the incicion and also about the size of a jr. football

Six weeks ago I had a kidney and ureter removed by robotics because of cancer in the kidney.  When I checked with the doctor about the bulge he said it was probably caused by a weak abdominal wall which sounds right to me.  It makes sense to me that if you remove something...something else is going to take up that space after all it is pretty well packed in there.   There is no pain connected with mine, I can sleep on either side.  I still have discomfort in my abdomen from the surgery but no  pain.  I chose life instead of death by cancer and do not regret it at all.  If anyone notices the bulge on the beach they can plainly see it is only on one side, not fat.  If anyone mentions it, smile and say "the bulge is because I chose life in stead of death".  On the beach wear a beach jacket or shirt.

I am a very positive person.  When something traumatic comes up in my life and I can't change it, I adjust my thinking.  I distract myself by reminding myself of why I did it.  I go shopping, read a good book, watch a Sean Connery movie (sigh), or go for a walk in the park and think of the good things in my life.    Forgive me, but I think you all should get over it if there are no complications from this other than vanity.

I had the same surgery in 2009 and inmediately my left side got swell up, I also consulted several doctors they told me the samething they told you, I went to the Hernia institute, I had surgery there many years ago and know the doctors very well, they told me it is best to leave it alone, hernia repair will not solve the problem, I can lay on my side with no pain, it retracts into the abdominal cavity. they sugested if I am going to be on my feet for long periods of time or do yard work etc-- to use some sort of support, so I went to Sports Authority and purchased a girdle type support that they use to lift weights and it is working for me.

Hello friends, we appear to be all in the same boat, but wearing very loose tops to cover our bulges and not bathing suits!  LOL I had a laparoscopic nephrectomy about 12 weeks ago. Healing very nicely and Thank You God I have no pain. Just minor twinges here and there.  However, I do have the BULGE.  Just saw my family doctor today and he said it is due to weak abdominal muscles and that the bowels are pushing against it.  He's sending me for an Ultrasound to further check it. Luckily, there is no hole so my bowels aren't poking through.  But the bulge is rather unsightly.  I'm only 48 yrs old.  However, I have to look at the bright side.  My surgery was to remove an "unknown tumour" which they feared was either renal cell carcinoma, or worse, soft tissue sarcoma.  I lost my right kidney as well.  My pathology came back BENIGN so we were thrilled to say the least.  So I have to try to look at it positively and think I could have cancer plus the BULGE, but now I only have the BULGE.   I have heard some people who have had the same surgery that it could go away after 6 months to a year.  So I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  But from reading your posts, it looks like it doesn't really go away.  Oh well, just got to wrap my head around that. :-(  Good luck and good health to us all!

 

 

Ok so my situation is similar but also different... I have NO left front oblique muscle.... Its just not there. It either died or i was born without one. I was first told it was a hernia, i went for a CT scan and it was changed to a birth defect or atrophy of my left oblique.... I was referred to a surgeon to see if they could do anything.... Surgeon #1 said no but he thinks he knows someone who can help.... 2 months later, visit rescehduled, then 2.5 hours in waiting room for a 5 minute visit from the next surgeon who said " i have never seen this before, your buldge is too large for Mesh implant, there is nothing i can do, you either need to live with it or try and contact a platic surgeon."

I am 32, I am not trying to sound conceited but im pretty good looking and have a lot of social connections and in the summer im constantly being invited to events and boating and ppols that require taking my shirt off and its horrifying .... it effects me everyday, i wear 2xl shirts when i should only need L or XL... I have to take my shirt off at the edge of the pool and have a towel right away when i get out, ill lay the towel on my left shoulder so it drapes over that side because my right side looks fine.... i take EVERY pic of myself for YEARS with someone slightly in front of me to my left, or standing next to something that covers my left stomach.... I cannot stand it. I hope a plastic surgeon can do something. I could stand to lose about 15-20lbs and tighten up doing crunches and stuff but im scared to get my stomache really tight and make the left side bulge even more obvious... ??? Anyone else have the same problems at all or know of any possible solutions ? 

I had my right kidney removed in October of 2012 and was having discomfort since surgery.  I would wake up in the morning with no discomfort at all.   I finally realized the cause of the pain. Tight waists on my slacks and sitting hunched over my computer for hours caused a lot of discomfort, even painful spasms in the evening.  I bought clothes that were not tight at the waist and lowered my desk chair to the lowest point I could.  I felt like a 6 year old sitting at my Dad's desk.  That forced me to sit up straight.   I am  95% better.    I have long hours during the day that I completely forget about it.   When I lift something heavy I have reminders that I shouldn't even do that for awhile longer.  I am sure the bulge is going to be there forever, but at my age who cares.   BTW:  When I was having discomfort or lifting things, the bulge was hard, like it was swollen.  When I am careful it is softer.  Good luck to all of you.

Reading your posts makes me feel so much better...and lucky. In 2005, I had an open partial nephrectomy that started out as cryoablation for benign angiomyolipomas. The cryo probe blew up the biggest tumor, so they cracked me open. I spent 7 hrs on the table while they cleaned up the mess. My problem hasn't been the bulge (although it's noticeable and I wear loose blouses), it's the constant discomfort on that side. I've been on a very low dose of Vicodin for several years and usually only take one at bedtime, but the daytime pain is worsening. Glad to know surgery improves the situation at least for some.

Linda D 

Yes- I called my bulge "'my football"---11 weeks is still way too soon for improvement. I still have mine-9 years- sorry to say. Pain improves though. Nerves have been cut. Try acupuncture 4-6 times with an experienced therapist who uses thin needles-only disposables!