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What to Expect After Discharge
Watch for Infection
The medications that you must take daily after your kidney transplant make your body more prone to infections. Therefore it would be a good idea to take your temperature each day, or when you feel feverish or sick. It is best to take your temperature at the same time every day; morning time is preferable. Avoid contact with people who have infections, colds or the flu, especially if they are coughing and sneezing and have runny noses. Call the Transplant Clinic when you have a temperature greater than 100 degrees, a sore throat, cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, burning with urination, or any reddened, warm, raised area of the body.
Rejection
Rejection is your body's way of fighting any foreign material including your new kidney. Ideally, the medications you are on will help to prevent rejection. Occasionally mild rejection episodes may still occur. It is important that you know the signs and symptoms of rejection and call the clinic so that quick action can be taken. The signs and symptoms are:
- Fever greater that 100
- Decreased urine output
- Increased weight of more than two pounds in one day or four pounds in one week
- Increase in BUN, creatinine, and potassium
- Swelling and tenderness in area of kidney
- Swelling in ankles, feet, and hands
- General feeling of illness
Delay in notification of these symptoms means a delay in receiving treatment for rejection. This can lead to severe, permanent damage or even loss of the transplanted kidney. Rejection can be treated! The transplant doctors will determine the right drug treatment for you. You will be hospitalized initially for treatment and close monitoring. Along with testing blood levels, testing will be done done on your kidney, including a renal ultrasound and/or renal biopsy.
Activity
Your surgical incision will be completely healed in two months. Until this time you should avoid heavy lifting (nothing over 10 pounds, including lifting children). Wait until the doctors give you approval to drive and return to work. Generally, you will be able to return to work after six weeks. Increase your physical activity gradually and your strength and endurance will improve. Walking is a convenient, low-cost form of exercise. In fact, physical exercise on a regular basis is important to maintain strength and to decrease weight gain.
Quick Tips
Sometimes, little things help a lot. Keep these tips in mind once you get home.
- Always carry an identification card that says you are a kidney transplant recipient and explains the location of your hemodialysis fistula, the names and dosages of your medications, and the name and phone numbers of your doctor and transplant clinic.
- Take care of the fistula or graft like you did on dialysis. If it should stop working do not worry. This often happens after a person has a successful transplant.
- If you travel, always carry medications with you and not in a suitcase because they could get lost.
- Do not double your dose of medications if you forget to take them. Call the clinic.
- Wear a seat belt when traveling because it will not harm the kidney.
Phone Numbers
| Transplant Clinic |
617-726-5277 |
| Transplant Unit, Blake 6 |
617-724-8610 |
| Social Worker |
617-726-3484 or 617-724-595 |
Quick Reminders
- Take all your medications every day as prescribed. Forgetting to take even as few as two or three doses can result in rejection of the kidney.
- Don’t take your Cyclosporine on the morning that blood is drawn. Wait until after it is drawn.
- Take your temperature and weight each day, at the same time, and record the results.
- Report anything out of the ordinary, especially signs of rejection and infection, to the transplant clinic at once (fever, weight gain, swelling, feeling ill, or other symptoms described in this site).
- Do not take any other medications, prescribed or over the counter, without the transplant doctors approval.
For more information about life after transplant, please visit these additional links below.
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