Everybody Should Know The Quality Of Life After Liver Transplantation

Going through a liver transplant means getting a new liver inserted into the body. While many fears how will be life after liver transplant, with restrictions before discharge and the care and sincerity expected post-hospitalization would help one lead a normal life just in a few weeks. To understand better, let us discuss the careful attention one needs to put regarding home care, medication schedule, and lifestyle changes that help the patient lead a normal and better life after liver transplantation.  

Home care: Attention to home care is very crucial in determining the healthy life and recovery of the patient after transplant. One should focus on the initial few months in building up the tolerance level to do the daily life chores, gaining back the body strength, and inducing flexibility in the overall health. Proper rest, well-balanced diet, enough boiling water consumption helps in recovering faster.

Normal Life Scenario: Though the recovery rate depends on person to person, most patients return to their normal work within 3-6 months and in severe cases, one year. Because of the post-transplant preparation by an experienced team of doctors of the specialized hospital like Max Health Care, usual life activities like playing a sport, getting back to exercise, socializing and travelling - are all possible within few months.

Lifestyle changes: Though people live an active normal life in no time, some lifestyle changes to make a better life after liver transplant is imperative. These include the restriction on the intake of alcohol or any exposure to toxic chemicals like paints, cleaners, insecticides, etc. One should prohibit rigorous exercise or lifting of heavy items until complete recovery. With the course of recovering, it will reduce the medication with time, but the patient should consume immunosuppression medications for the entire life. This is vital to fight against any infection or to treat side effects.

Recovery Time After Liver Transplant

A liver transplant is a surgical procedure that removes a liver that no longer functions properly and replaces it with a healthy liver from a deceased donor or a portion of a healthy liver from a living donor. Liver transplant is a treatment option for end-stage liver disease and acute liver failure. The most common technique is orthotopic transplantation, in which the native liver is removed and replaced by the donor organ in the same anatomic position as the original liver. It is a complex surgical procedure requiring careful harvest of the donor organ and meticulous implantation into the recipient. Liver transplantation is highly regulated, and the surgical procedure is only done at designated transplant medical centers by highly trained transplant physicians and supporting the medical team. The duration of the surgery ranges from 4 to 18 hours depending on the outcome.

Recovery time after liver transplant is usually six months or more before the patient feels fully healed. The liver begins to regenerate itself almost immediately. During surgery, about 40 percent to 60 percent of the donor's liver is removed. The average hospital stay for both recipients and donors is seven days and the recovery time for donors is about two months. The patient may be able to resume normal activities or go back to work a few months after surgery.

Life after liver transplant depends on the success rate of the transplant. In general, about 75% of people who undergo liver transplants live for at least five years. Whether you are giving away part of your liver or getting a new one, life often goes back to normal a few months after liver transplant surgery. Within three months, the liver reaches its normal size and the patient can get back to the normal routine.