How Do You Help Someone Recover From A Liver Transplant?
Long-term survival for liver transplant requires excellent home nursing care and family support. Your participation can mean the difference between acceptance and rejection of the new liver. Help the patient with medications, which should be taken at the same time each day. For the first month, she may be tired and a bit unfocused. Make a chart of medicines and the times you give them. Take her temperature and blood pressure twice a day, at the same time each day, and write them down in a journal. Before breakfast and dinner is best. Encourage her to move around. Lend your arm to steady her for walks. Avoid smacking against the new liver, the surgical site or the abdomen. Avoid the surgical site when helping her to move around. Take care not to apply pressure to the incision and surrounding area. Monitor the color of stools, and make sure her bowels are moving regularly. Clay-colored stools or constipation lasting longer than two days should be reported to the transplant coordinator. K
