Donated march 26 - numbness in my back

[Manazefa]

I justfoundthis website and am so grateful.  I have never talked with another donor and have been reading posts here.  It is nice to not feel alone.  My surgery went very well, felt great leaving the hospital, had those funny repositioning feelings and was trying to go sparing on the pain meds, but still took them twice away.  I was worried that they discharged me without my bowels working.  Also asked my donor advocate and my nurse about numbness in my thigh.  They didnt seem to know but said not to worry, probably something that would go asay.  Surgery on Monday, discharged Wednesday, called on Saturday because nothing was happening, bowel wise.  Eating greens, prunes, prune juice, fruits, taking colace and senna.  They advised us to just wait.  I had increasing pain in my right side and nausea, making it hard to even drink water.  I was also walking a lot every day.  Called again Sunday after using suppositories without luck.  Again warned against enema, milk of magnesia or other laxative.  Went to ER that night and got minimal relief with an enema and an IV for hydration.  An X-ray showed my entire colon full.  I stopped taking anything for pain but Tylenol on Saturday out of fear.  Tuesday went for my one week check, unable to eat, and they hospitalized me.  My right side was extremely painful and I began noticing that my thigh was not numb anymore but my hip and right side of my back was numb in a funny way.  Numb to touch, it hurt if you rubbed it or pressed very much, it he'd fiercely but couldn't feel scratching for relief.  Finally got some Benadryl for relief.  It took them 4 days to get me moving.  I won't detail the treatment other than to say that it was awful.  But it worked.  Now, more than three weeks post op I continue with great recovery from the actual surgery but only yesterday noticed my nausea was gone.  And my back continues weird.  Now when I lean ack it. Feels on that side like I am leaning into some brambles.  Neither the doctor or the donor liaison have a clue, and generally just dismissed it all when I saw them a few days after discharge the second time.  They also dismissed a cough which my husband and I expressed. Oncern could be bronchitis or pneumonia (something I am prone to).  They sent me home, 450 miles away.  Last Friday my husband took me to urgent care and I have pneumonia.  Thank God for Z-pack!  Getting better there now too. Sooo.... About the numbness, weird back feelings...anyone else ever have this?  Does it go way?  Is there anything you can do for it?  is it nerve damage from the surgical position (my theory)? And what do you do when. They treat your concerns like you are just weird?

[Manazefa]

Oops... Some typos, I apologize... Meant to say " it itched fiercely", and " now when I lean back it feels like I am leaning on brambles".  I am getting used to an iPad and the touch screen. 

[CK]

I donated 2 1/2 months ago and I have had numbness in my upper left thigh (outside, from almost hip to almost knee) since then. At first it was kind of like you describe, painful to touch, itchy at times (which is such a nightmare when you can't feel the scratching!). I think it's gradually getting better. It's not painful to touch anymore, and it seems like the area of numbness is getting smaller.

All the doctors I spoke to said that it was probably nerve trauma of sorts from the surgery and should go away, but might take a while. My transplant surgeon explained how there is a nerve underneath where the kidney lies and he tries to be very careful not to traumatize it in any way, but sometimes it happens (to his credit, he was very disappointed that this happened). The numbness is the only thing left (other than my incisions) to remind me I had surgery 2 months ago, otherwise, I feel great.

My advice would be to give it some time. I didn't have any of the complications you had, though, so if you feel it's still related to that, then let the doctors know that.

[Manazefa]

Thank you for your response.  Did you donate your left kidney or your right.  I donated my left and my numbness is on the right.  So glad to hear you are doing so well.  That encourages me.  I still have more bad days than good but am grateful for the good ones when they come.

[CK]

I donated my left and the numbness is on the left. I'm thinking that they could have traumatized some nerve on your right side (especially since you are positioned on your right).

My surgery and recovery were really easy, sorry to hear you still have so much trouble.

And no, my doctors do not treat my concerns as if they are weird, though I will say, the numbness thing doesn't seem common.

[lawphi]

I had significant muscle discomfort on my right side post donation.  You are twisted like a pretzel during the surgery and using your right side to avoid using the sore left muscles. 

Itching is common with prescription pain medications. 

[Manazefa]

Thank you for your replies.  My itching is very localized and even when I am not taking pain meds...I have been off of them for a week and a half. 

[Lansdowne11]

I'm not happy to see that other people have had this back numbness, but I'm happy to see I'm not the only one. I've had it since I was in the recovery room, and when I went for my post-op check-up, the surgeon didn't seem to alarmed about it. I asked him if it was from the position during the surgery, and he guessed that was the cause. I have also had the itchiness from time to time. It has been about ten weeks since my surgery, and the numbness is still there, although not as bad as it was. I'd like to know exactly how common this is after donation. I can certainly deal with it, but donors should probably be alerted to the possibility of this occurring.