Life After a Kidney Transplant: What to Expect

Learn what life looks like after getting a kidney transplant and how it affects your lifestyle and work.

Life After a Kidney Transplant: What to Expect

It's common for transplant recipients to resume a more normal lifestyle, including sexual activity, as they recover. Sexual function may not have been an important part of your life before the transplant, but it may now be higher on your agenda. It's not unusual to worry about something that wasn't familiar to you in your recent past, but is now taking on new importance. You may also be concerned about the safety of your new kidney during sex.

It is common to be absent from work for three months after a transplant, although some people may return earlier. Most types of work are suitable after transplantation. You should talk to local transplant doctors about any work that involves a lot of exposure to people with infections or about lifting heavy objects that may put direct pressure on the transplant wound or directly on the kidney. People can live a normal life with just one kidney.

As long as the donor is thoroughly evaluated and the donation is authorized, they can lead a normal life after surgery. When the kidney is removed, the single normal kidney will increase in size to compensate for the loss of the donated kidney. Getting a transplant is a treatment, not a cure for kidney disease. A transplanted kidney can do 40 to 85% of the work of two functioning kidneys.

That's about half or more. Watch this video about life after a transplant.Most people can return to work within 12 weeks after a kidney transplant. But this depends on your recovery and the type of work you do. Some jobs, such as heavy manual work, may require more recovery time.

Ask your transplant team for more information.The transplant team will monitor you closely for at least 3 months after your kidney transplant. You may be able to drive again about a month after surgery. Everyone's recovery is different, most patients notice an improvement in energy and endurance week by week. Exercise, such as walking or swimming, will help you increase your strength.After three months, you'll feel well enough to be able to return to your usual activities, such as work or school.

We have passed the Living Donor Protection Act, which protects donors from being denied life, disability or long-term care insurance after donating. If you donate to a transplant center associated with the National Kidney Registry and, for some reason, need a kidney after donation, priority will be given to a kidney from a living donor. This occurs when the body knows that the kidney comes from someone else and tries to protect itself by attacking the new kidney. In general, most people with only one normal kidney have few or no problems; however, you should always talk to your transplant team about the risks involved in donating.

Your transplant team will talk to you about any pre-existing conditions or other factors that may increase your risk of developing kidney disease, and will consider this carefully before making a decision about donating. Living donation doesn't change life expectancy and doesn't seem to increase the risk of kidney failure. The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) is the largest, most comprehensive and oldest organization dedicated to the awareness, prevention and treatment of kidney disease. There have been some cases where living donors needed a kidney later on, not necessarily because of the donation itself.

If someone is a professional athlete, it is possible to adapt the transplant operation so that the kidney is deeper inside the body, but this makes it difficult to perform a biopsy for possible rejection, so it is not usually recommended unless someone depends on sports for a living. The kidneys of living relatives last the longest, and the kidneys of older or sick donors last the longest.

Morris Bievenue
Morris Bievenue

Total internet geek. Hipster-friendly creator. Alcohol trailblazer. Certified food scholar. Alcohol expert. Extreme introvert.

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