Cheshire Chris's Treatment Thread

User

Posted 02 Sep 2018 at 08:29

Well, here I am in hospital. Unfortunately they had to remove my entire kidney (which I always knew was a possibility) - the surgeon's coming to see me later today to explain why. Had a reasonable night once they got the pain under control, which took a while. We'll see how it goes recovery-wise. Feeling a lot better this morning than I did last night.

Chris

User

Posted 02 Sep 2018 at 13:37

Well, that's interesting. Apparently the reason the surgeon was unable to remove the tumour from the kidney is that I have weird anatomy. He said I've got a second major artery going to my kidney that shouldn't be there, and which he's never seen or heard of before! So I might end up in a medical journal .

Feeling considerably better now. Managing to walk (very, very slowly!) around the ward which I certainly couldn't have done yesterday. Morphine is wonderful stuff!

Chris

Edited by member 02 Sep 2018 at 13:38 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 02 Sep 2018 at 14:47

Great news Chris and thanks for the update

User

Posted 02 Sep 2018 at 17:05

Great to have that over and done with Chris. Hope your recovery is smooth.

Ian

Ido4

User

Posted 02 Sep 2018 at 19:04

I'm in a lot of pain which medication isn't being wholly effective in suppressing. Think I might be here awhile. I don't see any chance of getting home tomorrow as the consultant was originally suggesting.

Chris

User

Posted 02 Sep 2018 at 20:30

You’ve been through such a rough time since joining us on here Chris, PCa, aneurism, Kidney tumour. I don’t know how I would have coped even with the support of my OH and your beating it on your own.

Top effort mate and respect to you

User

Posted 02 Sep 2018 at 21:04

Best wishes Chris. Hope the pain eases. No need for it really. Sometimes hospitals at the weekend are a nightmare. No one savvy enough to prescribe properly.

User

Posted 02 Sep 2018 at 21:52

There is bound to be some pain - painkillers can't completely numb you otherwise you might overdo things. But make sure it is being topped up regularly to minimise the amount of breakthrough pain.

Fingers crossed tomorrow is easier.

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User

Posted 02 Sep 2018 at 22:14

I hope you have a good recovery and will feel better soon. Don't rush things - you will need to take things slowly to allow yourself to heal. Interesting you have a novel anatomy - must have given the surgeon a surprise!!

User

Posted 03 Sep 2018 at 14:03

Thanks, all. The pain is a lot more manageable today, and the plan is now to discharge me tomorrow. I'm deliberately spending today on the painkilling tablets I'll be sent home with rather than the much more effective IVs, and so far it's bearable. Not great, but bearable, and I am keen to get home.

Recovery will be a long road, though. Because of the large incision through my abdominal muscles they had to make to get my kidney out through, I can't lift anything that weighs more than about a kg, and when I get out of bed or a chair I have to use my arms rather than my tummy muscles to do so. Doing otherwise is quite agonisingly painful!

Still, I'm on the road back to recovery now, and no more kidney tumour!

Chris

User

Posted 04 Sep 2018 at 16:29

Safely back home again with a huge bag of medical supplies! I've got to give myself a daily injection of an anti-clotting drug into my stomach muscles for the next four weeks. I was a little worried about this, but it turns out to be very easy and completely painless.

I've been left with three small incisions and one long one (where they took the kidney out through) just above the waist on my left side. The small wounds are already completely closed, and I'm told that the sutures in them will dissolve in a few months. The long incision has been closed with staples which will be removed next Monday. That's the one that's causing the pain because it cut a lot of my abdominal muscles and means I can't lift anything heavier than about a kg for the next few weeks. Sitting down or lying down is fine, but there's an intense burning pain when I stand up or walk.

I go and see the surgeon again in 6 weeks to get the lab results on the kidney and have a scan to make sure everything's OK, but the surgeon was confident that this would be a complete "fix" for the kidney cancer.

So, I feel as though another huge hurdle along the road to being cancer-free has been successfully cleared. It wasn't the most pleasant of experiences but, as is so often the case, wasn't nearly as bad as I'd built it up to be in advance.

Cheers,

Chris

User

Posted 04 Sep 2018 at 16:37

Glad to hear you are home. I hope the recovery continues apace.

Ian

Ido4

User

Posted 04 Sep 2018 at 16:47

Don’t forget to see a Physio Chris, once incision has completely healed you will need to do special exercises to stretch the scar tissue where the muscles have been cut otherwise you could end up with issues

User

Posted 05 Sep 2018 at 09:53

I’m feeling slightly abandoned by the system! Nobody’s given me any advice on what I should or shouldn’t be doing to aid my recovery from the surgery. When I’m sitting or lying down I’m fine - the cut muscles are just a dull ache - but as soon as I stand up I feel it all stretching, and the longer I stay on my feet the more and more painful it gets. After standing or walking for maybe two or three minutes it’s as if someone’s twisting red-hot knives in my side and I just can’t remain standing any longer. As soon as I sit down again within a few seconds it’s ok again. I’m guessing that the period I’m able to stay on my feet for will gradually increase as the muscles start to heal, but no one’s told me anything!

I’ve booked a telephone consultation with my GP for later today and hopefully he’ll be able to advise me.

Chris

User

Posted 05 Sep 2018 at 10:41

It's maybe the staples pulling Chris and it will feel better once they are out on Monday?

Have you tried ringing the ward you were on to ask advice?

We can't control the winds - but we can adjust our sails

User

Posted 05 Sep 2018 at 12:11

My GP phoned me about half an hour ago, and he said essentially the same thing - that it's the staples pulling at the wound, and it should be a lot more comfortable once they're out. He's advised me to keep as mobile as the pain allows me to, because the more mobile I am, the quicker the muscles will heal.

Chris

User

Posted 08 Sep 2018 at 22:43

Well, this certainly hasn't been the day I was expecting it to be!

Since my operation last Saturday I've been unable to have a bowel movement. The hospital sent me home with laxatives and said that constipation was a normal side-effect of the morphine and codeine I've been on. Up until this morning, lots of urges to go, but the result was nothing but copious amounts of wind (which I was told was a good thing, because it shows my bowels were working OK.

This morning rolls around. Sudden desperate need to move my bowels, but everything locked up solid. Unbelievable pain - when I "strain" it pulls directly on the abdominal muscles that were cut during my kidney operation, and the pain of that had me on the verge of blacking out. No choice but to phone 999. They said I'd done absolutely the right thing and an ambulance showed up about 15 minutes later to cart me off to the local A&E, which was an absolute madhouse - people lying on trolleys in the corridors, etc.

After about 7h of being wheeled in and out of cubicles and explaining the same thing at least half a dozen times, about 7:30pm they sent me to the CDU ward who do more complicated stuff than A&E and they gave me an enema. Talk about a blessed relief! Flood gates opened and unbelievable amounts of poo duly emerged.

Just got home a very happy man. I really hope that things stay working as the should do now that the blockage has been relieved. I'm going to stay on the laxatives for a few days to make sure.

Chris

User

Posted 08 Sep 2018 at 23:28

I don't want to say the obvious but liquid is very important to keep things moving.

Hospital food in my experience was low fibre easy digest, white bread and the like which definitely doesn't help.

High fibre, bran, veg, fruit, muesli, wholemeal bread and plenty of liquid are the usual recommends.

White bread and cornflakes and the like are no good. All the best.

User

Posted 08 Sep 2018 at 23:57

I completely agree, Peter, and I normally do eat a high-fibre diet and keep myself well-hydrated. Given that this is the first time something like this has ever happened to me (and hopefully the last!) I am strongly inclined to blame it on the opioid painkillers, which I’ve been having an awful lot of since my operation.

Chris

User

Posted 09 Sep 2018 at 07:47

After yesterday's horrible experience I've decided to stop taking the hospital-strength co-codamol (30mg codeine / 500mg paracetamol) with immediate effect and go back to ibuprofen and over-the-counter co-codamol (6mg codeine / 500mg paracetamol). A bit more pain is a price worth paying to avoid a repeat of yesterday. I'll go and see my GP tomorrow and see if he can prescribe some sort of non-opioid painkiller.

Chris

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