What is the recovery process after a heart transplant? How long will it take to recover?
When surgery is completed you will be taken to the intensive care unit. Over the following days as you recover from surgery, the various tubes and intravenous lines will gradually be removed and rehabilitation will begin. You will be closely monitored and evaluated to make sure your body is accepting the new organ. This includes regular heart echocardiograms, electrocardiograms and biopsies. During this time, the cardiac surgeon, cardiologist and other transplant team members will be looking very carefully for any signs of heart rejection or infection. Medications that suppress the body’s natural immune system will be administered to counter the body’s tendency to reject the new heart. These medications have dramatically reduced the number of rejections. Although you are unlikely to be very active in the first couple of days, you should be able to walk around in just three or four days. Once you are discharged from the hospital, our medical team will encourage you to become increasingl
