Taking care of yourself at home

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

Once you have left hospital after your lung transplant, it is very important that you look after yourself and your transplanted lung. Your transplant team will give you information on:

What to eat and drink
How to live healthily (for example, exercise, weight loss, not smoking, alcohol, contraception)
When you can go back to work
When you can start driving again

After the first 3-6 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

Take things easy in the first few weeks, rest when you feel tired and try to get enough sleep as this will help your recovery.
It’s important to walk a little every day to prevent blood clots. Keep distances short, especially at first. As you progress with your recovery, you can slowly increase how much you walk.
Avoid strenuous exercise and activities that strain your stomach or chest muscles for 4-6 weeks. This includes cycling, jogging, weight lifting and aerobic exercise, as well as things like lifting heavy objects, like weights or shopping bags. Because of the risk of infection, you should not go to a swimming pool until your wound has completely healed.

Staying healthy

Pain management

Surgical wound care

Medicines

Infections

Warning signs after a lung transplant