Kidney Disorders Community

Hello,

I had a laproscopic nephropexy Sept 7/10. In hospital 4 days. First couple of days were pretty rough but after that I made leaps and bounds. Percocet for pain for first couple of days home then just went to advil. Your body will tell you when you've done too much. I was back to work Oct 4/11 (desk job) with only lifting restrictions. Also was advised not to ride motercycle until next spring. Pain was completely gone and felt wonderful. Now the downside. Just before new years I started getting bad tearing pains again. Made appt with urologist for January. After all the tests and IVP it was determined the kidney had torn away from the abdominal was and was once again free to roam when it chose. I am a very slender female and surgeon has assured me that it can be fixed but the next time will have to be done open. That means 10-14inch incision and most likely 6-8wks off work. Surgeon has advised me to try and gain some weight over the summer and I will be scheduled for surgery in the fall. If you have any other questions just post. I will keep and eye on the forum. It is nice to finally find some info. I didn't have alot of info but my surgeon was great and answered all of my questions.

Thanks for your response! I'm having the nephropexy procedure bright and early tomorrow morning! I was not planning to be off work that long but perhaps I need to adjust my expectations. I do have the ability to work from home, so I'll likely do that if I'm not ready to go back into the office yet. They said I should only be in the hospital for one night.

So sorry to hear you need to have it done again! That has to be terribly frustrating! Good luck to you!

Best of luck to you on your procedure today. Hope all goes well. Be sure to post when you're feeling up to it. After the first few days you'll feel much better.

I'm happy to say the procedure was much easier than I was expecting! I had it done on Wednesday morning (6/1). It only took about an hour and I was up walking around...albeit slowly...later that day. I went home on Thursday and that was the most painful day. I stopped taking the Percocet and Motrin on Sunday and have been medicine free ever since. I have no "internal" pain at all from the stitching of the kidney. The most pain now is the 5 incision points and even those don't hurt too much if I take it easy. Bending at the waist is still not really possible and coughing hurts, but overall I feel pretty good! Surprisingly I'm finding the hardest part to be driving. Not sure why that is, but for some reason it is not comfortable to ride in the car or drive yet. I'm doing it, but that is where I notice the most discomfort. I'm off the rest of this week, but expect to be back at work on the 13th. I'm very happy to have this behind me and hope that it works and I have no other pains. The only real restriction I have is that I'm not allowed to lift more than 10 pounds for 3 weeks. You don't realize how much you use your stomach muscles until you can't! I can tell when I've done too much and then I just sit down with my feet up and rest.

Thank you for your information! It was very comforting going in knowing it wouldn't be too bad. Not knowing what to expect was the hardest part! Good luck to you on your procedure in the fall !!

adamcourt,
I was just diagnosed with nephroptosis and will need surgery. How are you doing 6 months post-op? Are there any continuing restrictions? Most importantly, where did you have your surgery and would you recommend your surgeon?

Thanks!

cracket,

I'm doing great! I went back to work after about 10 days and had no issues. The procedure and recovery were much easier than I expected.

Unfortunately, my procedure didn't work. I went back for a followup IVP about a month and a half ago and found out that my kidney was still moving. Apparently before the surgery the kidney dropped and turned and the turning was what caused the kink which ultimately caused the pain. The surgeon adhered the kidney to a fatty area, and the entire fatty area is moving, but not allowing the kidney to turn so the surgeon doesn't believe I will have any more pain. I only had the pain 1-2 times a year (but it could last for 1-16 hours at a time) and I'm 6 months post-op and I have not had any pain, so for that I'm thankful!

So while, it wasn't "successful" in the fact that the kidney is still moving, if I don't have the pain anymore, that is success in my book.

I'm not aware of any restrictions. I didn't do any running/jogging for about the first 3 months for fear of causing damage, but he didn't really give me any restrictions beyond the 3 weeks post-op. (I didn't really ask about the running so not sure if I could have done that).

I live in Ohio and my surgery was done by Dr. Erik Weise. I had done some research on him and he is very well known in the urology field and I was very pleased with him. I would definitely recommend him.

Good luck to you! If I can be of any more help, let me know!

Karen

Hello,

I have been recently diagnosed with floating kidney after 10 years of pain, multiple Emergency room visits each year and overall major decline in my overall health. I am meeting with two surgeons to discuss surgical treatment options very soon and wanted to ask you if you know how your surgeon did your procedure? There seems to be so many different ways to perform the procedure. Did you need a lot of help at home after the surgery? Also, overall, was having the surgery worth it? More pros than cons? I'm really nervous and haven't found a lot of people out there in the same situation, so any information would be greatly appreciated!

Hi CatieChick,

My surgery was done through a laparoscopic procedure and I had 5 small incision points on my stomach and lower right side. No incision was more than 1/2 inch or so and they have all healed very well. In fact, I can only really see 3 of them. It was done with some kind of robotic procedure for which my doctor is very well known.

I had read that they would be sewing the kidney to my back muscle which sounded painful, but that is not what he actually did at all. I'm not sure if you read my earlier post, but my procedure was not technically "successful" because my kidney still moves even after the surgery. Apparently my kidney was adhered to some fatty tissue in my abdomen. It appears that my fatty tissue is now moving as well which causes the kidney to drop, but now there is no turning of the kidney, which therefore means there is no kinking which was causing my pain.

Fortunately I don't need to have the surgery again because the doctor does not expect me to have any more pain because I should not have the kink that I had before. So even though it wasn't successful in the fact that the kidney still moves, I would definitely do it again without hesitation. I had read some pretty scary accounts (lenghth of time in the hospital, time out of work, recovery, etc.) and while I realize everyone is different, my recovery was actually pretty quick. I was only on pain meds for about 4 days and was back to work after about 10 days and that was only because the doctor said I had to be out for 7-10 days. Definitely more pros than cons. I had only been having the pain for about 3 years but I thought if they could make the pain go away forever, it was worth it!

I was only in the hospital overnight. I had my procedure at 8 on a Wednesday morning and was home by noon on Thursday. Thursday was pretty rough...it hurt to do everything. Noticeable improvement on Friday and then every day after that was a lot better. After about a week, I felt really good. Still sore at the incision points, but really good other than that.

If you have an opportunity to solve the problem forever, I think it is worth it.

Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions!

Karen

Karen,
Thanks for your information. I just last week jumped through all the hurdles to get to the surgeon. I'll meet with him this week, and I will certainly mention your experience. I'm a little nervous, as finding any surgeon familiar with this procedure is not easy, but I'm definitely ready to get this corrected!!

Best-
Melissa

Can you please let me know where you had your surgery done and if it worked. My daughter is trying to find a surgeon who can do this surgery but there aren't many.

I had laparoscopic surgery at Strong Hospital in Rochester, NY, 2.5 weeks ago. My surgeon, Dr. Wu (in the Urology Department), was excellent and has performed this surgery numerous times.

I had incredible abdominal pain before the surgery, and that is now gone. Also, the kidney is no longer hanging out below my belly button! But, I still have a little pain that I believe is coming from my kidney. It is much, much better than before, is in a different location and seems related to position. My surgery was very recent, so this pain may subside as my body adjusts. I also have another kidney condition that may be responsible for the pain. Time will tell.

Melissa,

Thank you so much for this information, I will be contacting the hosp this coming week. Finding a surgeon who even knows how to do this procedure has been a nightmare. I really appreciate the information. Leona