Life After Kidney Transplant

Life after a kidney transplant is exciting and frightening for both your child and your family. With the exception of routine visits with the kidney transplant team, most children who have heart transplantations go on to live normal lives after the initial post-surgery period.

The improvement of your child’s health after transplant can make a difference in your lifestyle, although the first three months at least are still quite intense. Your child will eventually feel better and you will no longer need to focus on the same health problems faced before surgery. Your family will have the opportunity to do things together once again. You will also need some time to adjust to being out of the hospital and at home.

The transplant team will closely monitor your child’s progress on an outpatient basis. You will visit the outpatient clinic once a week for several weeks post transplant. Your visits will decrease in frequency as you move further from the date of surgery. The frequency of your checkups depends on your progress. The Transplant Team will discuss this with you at each visit.