Recipient:

The average stay in the Intensive Care Unit is 5 to 7 days pending that there is no post-surgery complications. Once you have been “extubated,” i.e. when the breathing tube is removed, you will be moved to the private room of the Liver Ward for recuperation and monitoring process. The Transplant Team led by Dr K C Tan, will continue to assess and review your condition every day on rounds to determine plans for ongoing care and to see how well the new liver is functioning.

You will continue to receive fluids, medications and nutrition intravenously, but will be eventually moved to a normal diet. Blood samples will be sent to the laboratory every day. X-rays and scans are ordered by the team if it is necessary. These lab tests and the results can be found in the later chapter. You will be asked to cough regularly and to do breathing exervises in order to expand your lungs and prevent pneumonia.

During this recovery time, you will feel better on some days than on others. This is the norm. Different patient have different recovery period, with complications playing a major role in the recuperation rate. The degree of weakness you experience will depend upon your physical condition prior to surgery.

Physiotherapist will help to work on your muscles to prevent wasting and formation of blood clots in your legs. You will be asked to start with walking short distances to help regain strength and mobility. An exercise program will be given to you to continue after your discharge. Learning to care for you after you go home is very important. To prepare you and your family/ caretaker on caring for you at home, the nurses will help you to read and record blood tests and important information from the transplant flow sheet into a post transplant file. This file will be given to you by your transplant coordinator; and together with the nurse(s), she will review it with you and your family/ caretaker to continue to record vital information after your discharge. You will also be taught to care for your T-tube and the incision area for when you are discharged. Your nurse will explain your medications and you will also be taught to make changes on your medicine card. Immunosuppressant medications are administered immediately after the transplant operation. The side effects caused by the different immunosuppressant will be explained by your transplant coordinator and you can find more detail in the next chapter – “Immunosuppressant & Medications”.

The average hospital stay for a liver transplant recipient is usually a month to 6 weeks, barring any complication.

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