After The Transplant

   

   After dealing with the effects of long-term illness, you may feel euphoric when you awake after surgery to find those symptoms gone.The first months after transplant are important to the healing process. Before you leave the hospital, you and your family will need to prepare your home (or the place where you will stay) and plan for your caregiving needs.You should follow these:
   (1)Be seen by your transplant team on a regular basis and follow their advice.
   (2)Take your anti-rejection medications daily in the proper dose and at the right times, as directed by the transplant team, to keep your body from rejecting your new kidney.Rejection is the most common and important complication that may occur after receiving a transplant. Since you were not born with your transplanted kidney, your body will think this new tissue is “foreign” and will try to protect you by “attacking” it. Rejection is a normal response from your body after any transplant surgery. So you must take anti-rejection medicine exactly as prescribed to prevent rejection.
   (3)Follow the recommended schedule for lab tests and clinic visits to make sure that your kidney is working properly.
   (4)Follow a healthy lifestyle including proper diet, exercise, and weight loss if needed. 
   Anti-rejection (immunosuppressant) medications have a number of possible side-effects which are usually manageable for most patients. Blood levels of anti-rejection medications will be checked regularly to prevent rejection and lessen side-effects. If side-effects do occur, your doctor may change the dose or type of medications. There are 3 groups of anti-rejection (immunosuppressant) medications: 
    (1)Induction agent – Powerful anti-rejection medication used before the transplant in the operating room, or immediately after the transplant surgery. 
    (2)Maintenance agents – Anti-rejection medications you will take daily for as long as you have your transplanted kidney. 
    (3)Rejection agents: Medications which are used for the treatment for rejection episodes.
    If you would like more information, please email me by annadoctor.kidney@gmail.com