After Surgery
Our team will take you to the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) immediately after your surgery has ended. In this setting, our team will monitor your vital signs, lab tests, and overall condition. You'll remain here until the morning following surgery, at which time you will be transferred to the transplant unit.
You will wake up in the transplant unit feeling sleepy, with discomfort from the operation and a bloated feeling from the gas that was introduced to inflate your abdomen. Your skin incissions will be closed with dissolvable sutures, eliminating the need for stitch removal, and covered with dried dressing. A Foley catheter will be in the urethra to measure your urinary output, and an IV will be attached to your arm for nourishment. We will have put special socks on your feet that will aid with blood circulation and to prevent clotting. Routine post-donation medications include pain medicine, stool-softeners, and laxatives because anesthesia is a constipating agent.
Recovery Details
As soon as you wake up, you'll be asked to breathe deeply and cough. This is because fluids may accumulate in your lungs while under anesthesia. This exercise brings air to all parts of your lungs, preventing pneumonia.
Once you're feeling strong enough, you'll be asked to exercise your leg muscles by flexing them. We’ll gradually encourage you to sit up, stand up, and finally walk. We want to get you up and walking to prevent blood clots from forming and to prevent muscle wasting. You are expected to be able to get out of bed within 24 hours after surgery.
Pain is, unfortunately, an inevitable aspect of surgery, so we will provide you with Patient-Controlled Analgesia (PCA); a device through which you control the supply of your own pain relievers. Your abdomen will be inflated with gas during surgery, so pain in the shoulders is to be expected as this gas escapes your body. We will encourage you to walk and breathe deeply as soon as possible to help you eliminate this gas. Our team will also give you stool softeners to avoid additional discomfort during bowel movements.
You’ll be able to walk within 24 hours following the operation, but you won’t be discharged until you can cope with the pain, you can urinate on your own, and have completely recovered from the anesthesia. You will also need to demonstrate acceptable kidney function, and to tolerate an oral diet. This usually takes place at around the 48 hour mark, which also gives us time to ensure no complications have gone unnoticed (bleeding, urinary tract infection, or poor urinary output).
Our doctors will not allow you to drive home because you'll still be in pain, weak, and under the effects of painkillers. You should make arrangements to have a friend or family member take you home. If you can't find someone to drive you home, our nurse coordinator can help you make a transportation plan. We offer discounted transport options, depending on your destination.
