Recovery time after surgery?

heavenlykaelee
0 Recommendations

I would like to hear about peoples experiences with this. I was diagnosed with VHL last February with numerous tumors on my kidneys. My father had VHL and passed away in 98' after having his kidneys removed and being on dialysis. So this really wasn't a total shock to me, but for reasons I don't want to explain I let my diagnosis go unchecked for years.

Anyway, on March 31st I had my surgery. It was officially called a Bilateral Partial Nephrectomy. I had 8 tumors on my right kidney and 3 on my left. They removed 2 of the larger ones on my right and then performed cryo therepy on all the rest. My surgeon did an excellent job and saved both kidneys! He estimates that I still have 2/3 of my total kidney function. I can't say enough about him.

My recovery has been great from his perspective. I, on the other hand have never had to deal with anything so difficult in my life. Without the help and understanding of my family I don't know where I would be today.

Getting back to my original question though. How long has it taken for people with this surgery to get back to work and daily activities? It's been 6 weeks since my surgery and I have had an awful time with my energy level. My appetite still hasn't come back. And my job requires me to lift, bend, and walk all day. Right now I have a 10lb weight limit, but I am required to be able to lift up to 80+ lbs.

Thanks

6 replies

joyceg98
  • By joyceg98
  • Posted May 14, 2008 at 12:13 pm

My 15-year-old son took 6-8 weeks to "get his bounce back", so it sounds like you are pretty much right on schedule. My own kidney surgery (simple removal of my kidney to give it to my son) was much easier to recover from than what you are describing, and it took me 6-8 weeks to get my energy level back up.

Talk with your doctor about getting back into shape to lift 80+ pounds. It sounds like you might need a trainer or physical therapist to get to that level again. That or it might be time to have a talk with your employer about modifying the job so that you don't have to lift quite so much weight.

There are laws to protect you, so don't give up or let them pressure you to quit -- they are required by law to make "reasonable accommodations" to help you. Could you do the job with the help of some device? wheel cart? crank lift? I'm sure your job requires much more of your experience and expertise than simply lifting -- the employer has made an investment in training you, so it's to their advantage to keep you happily working as well. And 80# is a high requirement for any worker -- the airlines, for example, have lowered their weight requirement to 50# and use a lot of conveyer belts.

Likely your stomach muscles have been stretched, cut, or otherwise abused by the surgery, and need to be gotten back into shape. And when your stomach muscles are weak, there is more strain on your back.

It is important to move because if you don't you can get "adhesions" where the cut places heal such that they "stick" to other muscles or tissues. With the right kind of exercise, you can get this all back in order. AND you will need guidance to do it right without injuring yourself. Ask your doctor how to proceed.

All best wishes,
Joyce

batley
  • By batley
  • Posted May 14, 2008 at 4:14 pm

when i had my adrenal gland removed it took me about 8 weeks to 10 weeks , different people recover different levels, im a slow healer, and well done for facing up to vhl and getting sorted its never easy to come to terms with this wish you best of luck

irishbookworm

Hi, I've had 3 kidney surgeries so far and I have hardly any residual side effects, so, I hope that makes you feel a little better. Anyway, my most recent surgery was a right partial nephrectomy and I was back to work in 5 weeks. However, different people heal differently and I have a job that I sit at a computer all day. The worst part was not driving for 3 weeks post-op. From what my doctor has said, it's usually about 4-6 weeks for recovery, but, if you were opened up on both sides, that would require much more recovery time. Hope all keeps up and goes well. Keep us posted!

heavenlykaelee

Thanks for all the encouragement and support. I have recently been given the all clear from my surgeon to return to work and last weekend was my first time back to work with unlimited weight restriction. Everything went great and my boss has been very understanding and caring. He hasn't put me in a position to overdue it, and was constantly asking if I was OK. So now I have the summer off from seeing any doctors until my next CT scan in October!

joyceg98
  • By joyceg98
  • Posted June 9, 2008 at 2:22 pm

Wonderful! Congratulations!

Joyce

picko
  • By picko
  • Posted June 22, 2008 at 4:33 am

well done, i had a full nephrectomy last year took me nearly 4 months to recover

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