Taking care of yourself at home

Find out how to best look after yourself and your surgical wound following a transplant

Key points

Taking care of yourself when you return home will help with your recovery
Short walks and plenty of rest and sleep are important
You will need to keep your surgical wound clean and dry
Make sure you take all your medicines and let your transplant team know if you’re struggling with pain management or other problems

Returning home after a kidney transplant

Once you have left hospital after your kidney transplant, it is very important that you look after yourself and your transplanted kidney.

Ask your transplant team for information about:

What to eat and drink
How to keep yourself well and get the best from your transplant kidney (for example, keeping active, weight loss, not smoking, alcohol, contraception)
When you can go back to work
When you can start driving again

After the first 3 to 6 months, the risk of transplant rejection is lower, and your immunosuppressant medicines will reduce. You should have more energy and be able to start doing more.

When can you start doing things again?

General advice

Activity

Try to follow a combination of regular movement during the day with rests in between. Rest when you feel tired and try to get enough sleep as this will help your recovery.
It's important to move around throughout the day to prevent blood clots and help your body recover. Keep distances short at first. And slowly increase how much you move.
Avoid strenuous activities that can strain your stomach muscles for 4 to 6 weeks. This includes cycling, jogging, weightlifting and aerobic exercise, as well as things like lifting heavy objects, like weights or shopping bags.
You should not go to a swimming pool until your wound has completely healed. This is to avoid the risk of infection.

Staying healthy

Pain management

As you continue to recover at home, you may feel sore, particularly as you start to move around and do more. There are lots of things that can help to keep you comfortable, and it is important that you can move around and continue your recovery.

Talk to your team if you need help with this. Please check with your transplant team before taking any over-the-counter medicines to make sure they are safe for you.

Surgical wound care

Medicines

Infections

Warning signs after a kidney transplant