Life After a Heart Transplant

By Medical Expert Team

Apr 05 , 2018 | 3 min read

The road to recovery after a heart transplant surgery seems like a tough one. However, if the patients follow the advice of their heart surgeon and cardiologist and adopt a healthy lifestyle, they can expect a quality life. There are various measures the patients and their family members need to keep in mind to ensure the overall success of the heart transplant in india.

Dr. Ritwick Raj Bhuyan, Principal Consultant & Incharge, CTVS, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Patparganj mentions some of the things one should adopt for a healthy life after a heart transplant are listed below:

Proper Medications

This is an inevitable step towards the best recovery. In case of heart transplant surgery, there are chances the body of the patient might not support the new organ and start rejecting it. This can lead to serious complications. To make sure that such situation does not show up, cardiologists prescribe certain medications. The patients and their family members must understand the prescription thoroughly to avoid any misunderstanding. Also, taking medications on time every day as prescribed by the doctor is essential after heart transplant surgery.

Regular Check-ups

A heart transplant surgery is one of the major surgical procedures, and therefore it needs to be assessed on a regular basis. The regular appointments may involve a number of blood tests, echocardiograms and heart biopsies to ensure the success of the surgery. If patients face any health issues that may indicate something serious, they should contact their doctor immediately to avoid any further complication.

Healthy and Balanced Diet

Life does become healthier after a heart transplant surgery. However, if the patients do not care about their health after the transplant, they might risk themselves to other health issues. That is why they are advised to follow a healthy diet post-surgery.

As far as the guide to a healthy diet is concerned, we at Max Healthcare, ensure that our patients are well informed by a dietician. The dietician educates the patients and their caretakers about the proper diet to ensure a healthy recovery. In general, a heart-healthy diet means:

Limited intake of sugar, salt and fat
Avoiding canned soups and junk food
Eating recommended fresh vegetables and fruits

Exercise

After the transplant, patients can enter into cardiac rehabilitation to learn various practices that lead to healthy and fast recovery. Our cardiac rehabilitation, for instance, is a specialised centre where the patients are provided care and encouraged to take up healthy lifestyle habits and perform mild exercises under supervision.

Hope and Support

The last point is as important as the others mentioned above. The patients who go through a heart transplant may experience an overwhelming stir of emotions. In such a case, family members and friends can give them hope and support to stay motivated for a healthy life. This encourages the patients to adopt a healthy lifestyle and finally reach the state of happiness.

Other than these, some of the things that patients need to keep in mind are as follows:

Hygiene should be maintained to avoid any kind of infections
The wound area must be kept clean and dry
In case the patient has a habit of smoking or drinking, they must quit it after the transplant
An ideal body weight should be maintained

Getting a successful heart transplant surgery is no less than getting a new life. In order to maintain this gift, patients need to give extra focus to their life after a heart transplant to make sure that their heart remains in a healthy state. We at Max Healthcare understand our patients’ concerns and that is why our transplant team not only focuses on them till the surgery but also guide them through a healthy recovery after the transplant.