Recovery for the Recipient
Recovery for the recipient is a bit more precarious. Post-transplant, for the rest of their life, the recipient must be immunosuppressed, or have their immune system disarmed, in order to protect the new liver from being recognized as a foreign object and attacked by the recipient’s immune system.
The recipient will also need to take a series of drugs to help the body cope with the suppressed immune system, such as anti-fungal medication to maintain the bacteria in the mouth that is usually fought by the immune system, but can become excessive and dangerous if not kept under control in a post-transplant body. In fact, since the recipient is immunosuppressed, for a period after transplant, the patient has to avoid public places such as subways and raw foods in order to reduce the risk of infection.
In addition to painkillers and other medications, the average transplant patient leaves the hospital on 17 different types of medication, somewhere around 40 pills a day. The immunosuppressants need to be taken at the exactly the same time everyday to prevent rejection of the liver. Within a year to a year and a half, the patient will hopefully only be on two different immunosuppressants that are taken twice a day. The initial cost of these drugs can be up to $8,700.00 a month.
Every a patient goes through a little bit of rejection. There is not a perfect science to knowing exactly how a patient will respond to the new organ, thus over time, doctors perfect the levels of immunosuppressants. In the meantime, there are always a few scares for the recipient.
