Post-Transplant Pain?

[RuthWells]

I know this will be different for everyone, but I'm curious how long transplant recipients had pain following their surgery.  I am 12 days post-transplant, the lucky recipient of a very robust (and LARGE) kidney from my older brother.  The only complication in the surgery was the unexpectedly large size of my brother's kidney.  I'm fairly petite, and they had a little trouble fitting this large kidney into my crowded abdomen. 

The good news is that the kidney is working great, prograff levels are great, and I've processed almost all of the extra fluid I took on in the hospital.  The bad news is, I'm still having a fairly high level of pain, 12 days after surgery.  My native kidneys (enlarged due to PKD) are still on board, which is causing some compression.  My incision is about 6" long, and I am having stabbing pains along the incision, in addition to aching and tenderness all around the surgical area.  My neph ordered an ultrasound today to look for excess fluid build up around the incision, but none was observed.

So, I'm having pain without any unexpected cause that we know of, to the degree of crying throughout the ultrasound today.  Walking and sitting upright for any extended period makes the pain worse.  I'd love to hear what others have experienced - I need some encouragement that things are going to get better soon!

[Chris]

Since I had a kidney and pancreas  am not sure if this applies, but I had pain for 3 weeks before it lessened up and the little pillow helped a little when coughing or sneezing. Hopefully the ultrasound shows nothing going on other than you need you originl PKD kidneys taken out to make room

[RuthWells]

Thanks for the reply, Chris, that is very helpful.  Do you mind if I ask how big your incision is fro the transplant?

[jeannea]

My incision was huge. This was years ago. But I had pain for a while after. I used a step stool to get into bed for 3 or 4 weeks because I couldn't lift my legs up. I held a pillow there when riding in a car almost as long. And I had pain when sneezing for about a year. So I'm a wimp. If the pain gets slowly better over time you're ok. If it gets worse call your coordinator.

[mcclane]

My 2nd transplant was very recent.  I made some mistakes during my first transplant that I am correcting in my 2nd one in regards to pain management.  During my first one, the pain lasted for over a month, I had a hell of a time getting in/out of bed, and I basically sat around the house during that month.

This time around, I made a concerted effort to remain active, pain or no pain.  I fought hard to get out of bed myself (however, 2nd day after surgery I did require assistance to get out bed).  When I was able to get out of bed and walk around myself (yes, there was still pain), I kept at it.  By the 4th day, I was able to get in/out of bed easier, and the pain subsided quite abit, by the time they discharged me, I would say the pain was very low.  During my stay in the hospital, I only had one dose of morphine, and only took 2 tylenols.  I refused to take anymore pain medication (I wanted to eat solid food, and pain medications slow down your bowels).

Like you, I have a bulge on my left side, as that is where they put the new kidney.  It looks like a 20 cm incision.  My best advice is to keep active, once they dishcarged me I found that if I sat around too long the pain increased, but as soon as I stood up and walked around, the pain went away.  I was back in the gym the next day they discharged me, and I found that to be the best way for pain management.

[RuthWells]

I'm kind of fascinated by how everyone's experience varies.  My mobility is actually pretty good, I can get in and out of bed pretty easily.  What seems to cause me the most pain is sitting up for any length of time (though walking is also painful eventually).  I'm making a conscious effort to get out of bed more today in short bursts, so as to not overdo it.

[Chris]

Thanks for the reply, Chris, that is very helpful.  Do you mind if I ask how big your incision is fro the transplant?

my incision is roughly 14 inches long, but since it goes around the belly button I am not sure of true length.

[kellyt]

I was sore for a few weeks, but I was only in "pain" for like two days after surgyer, and that was only when I moved around a lot.