Just found out my left kidney has failed and needs to be removed.I have a stent in cause the dr's say it's enlarged.I will have the stent out Wed. and I am so scared then I will have my kidney removed. I would love any info. from anyone who has gone through this. Thank you...God Bless

hi jessica,
did they say what caused your left kidney failure? weren't there any symtoms prior to the diagnosis of failure?
my dr told me that if one fails, you can still be alright with one kidney and that it will make up for the loss of the other one.
I just read another post before this one and someone had some very good info on kidney transplant. it's a long process and all.

I hope you're able to find a donor if this is what the doctor is telling you to do.

good luck,

Linda

I was in a lot of pain for a very long time on the left side of my back that traveled to the front. I have had 2 back surgeries and Dr's thought that's what was causing the pain. It got to the point where I could no longer take the pain and pain meds did nothing. I was taken to the ER where a Dr. decided to do a C-Scan w Barium and there it was...My left kidney enlarged and nolonger working.He said they think that the canal has closed and therefore causing damage to the kidney causing it to fail. Now that I know what's wrong w me and I look at the symptoms I say to myself what an idiot I had almost all of them. It's a major relief for the back pain to be gone but scared about the stenet removal in 5 more days and then the kidney removal. Thanks for listening...

Please calm down. I had my right kidney removed through open surgery in June 2005. I stayed in the hospital for 4 days. I was on pain meds for about a week. i made a good recovery, and returned to work. Of course I'm not happy about the scar.

You can do just fine on one kidney. The other kidney will compensate for the loss. just keep it healthy. The long term effects are a slightly elevated blood pressure.

I am not young, but I am fine. You will be too.:angel:

[QUOTE=onekidney;2850908]Please calm down. I had my right kidney removed through open surgery in June 2005. I stayed in the hospital for 4 days. I was on pain meds for about a week. i made a good recovery, and returned to work. Of course I'm not happy about the scar.

You can do just fine on one kidney. The other kidney will compensate for the loss. just keep it healthy. The long term effects are a slightly elevated blood pressure.

I am not young, but I am fine. You will be too.: T Thank you so much:)

No problem at all. Anyquestions about nephrectomy, I will answer if I can:)

I see you've already received some good advice on this, but thought I'd throw in my 2 cents worth....

I lost my left kidney about 6 months ago. Initial scans detected a 'blurred mass' in the kidney. Since I had no pain, only blood in my urine, and given the fact that I was, and had run a low-grade fever for weeks, my urologist suspected I had a mass of coagulated blood built up in the kidney due to damage done by a kidney stone. The 'blur' did not appear to be cancer, so he placed a stint in the ureter to take pressure off the kidney. (The clots were so bad, that I had to force them out when urinating.)

After three weeks, and similar rounds of antibiotics, not to mention another CT contrast scan, the 'blur' was still there. Continued consults among fellow urologists determined the kidney had to be removed, simply due to the size and location of the 'blur'...

I was in surgery, for the radical nephrectomy, about 2 hours. I've got a large scar under my bottom left rib to show for it.

I was in the hospital for 6 days. They gave me an epidural for pain management, which worked quite well, except they ended up doing a blood patch on me because the epidural had poked a small hole in the lining of my spinal cord and caused me terrible headaches (to the point of getting sick) whenever I stood up or tried to walk. (If they offer it, I would vote for the epidural - they'll use morphine for break-through pain, and will ween you off meds so you can go home.)

The 'blur' in my kidney turned out to be stage 3 urothelial cell carcenoma that had formed in the renal pelvis of the left kidney. The cancer was pretty much contained. I go back next month (April) for my first 6-month check up.

You might be a candidate for endoscopic surgery that would allow you a shorter recovery time, and keep you from having a large scar on your side. Since my kidney was so involved, they opted to perform a traditional surgery. Recovery wasn't too bad. The worst part (for me) was the healing process for the muscles. I still have a little nerve pain on part of the incision, but considering the fact they have to cut through 4 layers of muscle, it's going to take some time.

I hope that helps...

I'd always heard that we can live just fine with only one kidney. The key is to take care of the other one, watch your protein intake, watch what medicines you take (no more ibuprofen!) and drink lots of water! (Did you know what 1 out of every 750 babies born in the US only has one kidney? Neither did I until I found it on-line (from a very reliable source)...)

If you have any other questions, please let me know. I wish you all the best and know how scary this can be. Hang in there... things will be fine!

Huskerboy

Thanks for writing. My 29 yr. old son is scheduled to have his left kidney removed soon...I'm so scared. Your info is encouraging.

Joan

My 29-yr old son just had his left kidney removed. It has been 2 weeks and he is off of pain killers (except for tylenol @ night), is walking, driving, and getting about really well. He was in the hospital for only 2 days and really has not required much help. I know you are terribly scared but if they remove the kidney you will probably be surprised how quickly you will spring back. Good luck and if you have questions, let me know.:)

I had my left kidney removed in 1984 due to trauma and have gotten along just fine without it. I got my aviation medical back and had absolutely no restrictions on my activities.

The only down side I've found (other than the scar, and I wasn't much to look at to begin with <G>) has been the loss of reserve renal capacity. Last week I had my first - and hopefully only - experience with a stone. I was waiting for a 2mm to pass, but after a day it shifted and blocked the duct. That's not a good thing when you only have one kidney so they installed a stint. Fortunately, they were able to snag the stone while they were in there so now I'm just waiting to get the stint removed (which is why I was surfing this forum in the first place).

If I'd had two kidneys they wouldn't have gone in and I'd still be waiting for the stone to pass - and, at least for me, the backup and pressure on the kidney was much more painful than the stone.

Best of luck,

John