“My son had a heart transplant. What will recovery entail?”
My son is 8 years old and he recently underwent a heart transplant. How long will it take him to resume life as a normal kid again? Are there any activities or things he will no longer be able to do?
4 Answers
Just take it one day at a time. Rehab and PT/OTare excellent for now. Watch your expectations of normal kid. Just let him recover at his own pace.
The time from heart transplantation until doing normal activities varies and depends on how well your son was going into the transplant, his underlying disease (cardiomyopathy? Congenital heart disease?), and nutritional status. Best case scenarios can be being discharged 1 week after transplant, but, of course, can be much longer. In the best case, activities can restart within the month. Many transplant teams will have the child wear a mask for 6-12 months and going back to school is commonly over the same time span. He is likely to be able to do more activities than pre-transplant, but, again, this is dependent on several individualized factors. He will need to be compulsive taking his medications and following the plans outlined by his transplant team (clinic, cath with biopsies, blood draws, etc.).
Most children do very well after a heart transplant but they will always have ongoing issues such as risk of rejection, infection, side effects from medications and risk of coronary issues. Your transplant cardiologist will give you specific details about your child.
After a heart transplant patients are usually on immune suppressant therapy that can make it easier to get infections. At first, he must be watched closely for rejection. Part of the recovery also depends on how well he heals. Your cardiac team will be a better guide on your son on what is expected and what he will be able to do. Be sure to give him prescribed meds and keep followup appointments
