At the time of transplant, you will be admitted into the hospital and prepared for surgery.
When an organ becomes available, you will be notified by a physician from the team to come into the hospital. If you have a cold or flu or some other infection, your transplant may need to be postponed. If the decision is to proceed with the transplant you must come into the hospital and be prepared for the operating room. While you are being prepared for surgery, a team of surgeons will be working to remove the organs from the donor. On rare occasions, the surgeons may find something that makes the organ unsuitable for transplant. In this case your surgery will be postponed until a suitable donor is found. We realize that this is very disappointing, however, we would do more damage to you if we gave you an organ that was less than perfect. In most instances the organ is found to be suitable and the transplant proceeds as scheduled.
This is a planned operation, therefore, the donor and recipient will be required to undergo presurgical testing the week before the transplant. This includes blood tests, EKG, chest x-rays and a meeting with the anesthesiologist. Both parties will be admitted the morning of the surgery. The donor will be hospitalized for 7-10 days after surgery.
The surgeon will notify your family when the procedure is completed. Immediate family may then see you for a few minutes after the surgery. It is important that those who are ill postpone visiting until they are well. Initially, you will be in the Intensive Care Unit where you can be watched very closely. You may be attached to a cardiac monitor, intravenous lines, tubes and drains. When your condition stabilizes, you will be transferred to a regular room where you will complete your recuperation process and learn how to care for yourself at home. The average length of stay for liver transplantation is 2 -3 weeks.
After a liver transplant you will be required to take many medications. You will be put on a combination of the following drugs; Sandimmune, Neoral, Prograf prednisone, Imuran, Cellcept, Zenapax, or Simulect. The purpose of these medications. is to prevent rejection of your transplanted liver. These medications have many side effects. They may include high blood pressure, excessive hair growth or loss, hand tremors, mood swings, weight gain, bone loss, and diabetes. Many side effects are temporary and some will continue as long as you are taking the medications. We do our best to minimize side effects and reduce dosages as quickly as possible to avoid complications.