Prepare Yourself for the Cardiac Transplant Surgery – PSRI

A healthy beating heart is definitely a thing of joy for everyone. A heart is one of the hardest working organs of our human body that is constantly at work. Taking charge of our heart health is an inevitable duty one must oblige with. Following some basic and necessary do’s and don’ts to maintain a healthy heart would hardly consume 15 minutes of one’s day. Not much to ask for, right? Unhealthy and fast-paced lifestyle has taken a charge on our health, giving birth to innumerable and unavoidable heart diseases. With ever-advancing technology, many heart diseases have found their cure however, it is difficult to cure and treat end-stage heart failure. This led to the discovery of a life-saving measure i.e. cardiac transplant surgery.

A heart transplant is performed on patients whose hearts aren’t healthy enough to pump enough blood to meet the body requirements. Heart transplant surgeries have saved many lives in the past and shall continue to do. However, preparing for one is liking walking on a bed of thorns.

However, one can prepare themselves for the same by following these;

1. Once you have been declared sick enough to need a new heart and healthy enough to receive the same by your surgeon, then you eligible for the transplant surgery and put on a waiting list. This waiting list regulates allocation system of donor organs. The donor’s heart is matched for the blood type and size to match with the recipient’s heart.
2. While on the waiting list, one should undergo the necessary medical evaluations and tests, like;
   a. Blood Type Test
   b. Medical History
   c. Viral testing
   d. Urine and Kidney Examination
   e. Panel reactive antibody levels, etc.
   f. Right heart catheterization to understand the dynamics of heart
   g. An echocardiogram
3. Ensure to take the prescribed pre-transplant medications as advised by the surgeons. These are to prepare the bod for the upcoming changes it is going to encounter soon.
4. Make sure that you’re on the heart transplant list by following the instructions and medication prescribed by the surgeon.
5. Study and educate yourself regarding the whole procedure, the dos and the don’ts, pre, and post-operative care, etc. Contact people who have undergone the same and know about their experience.
6. Just before the surgery day, pack comfortable and loose clothing, all the medicines etc.
7. Inform your friends and family about the same. Moral support from family can provide an instant boost and instil confidence in the patient’s heart.

Preparing for any kind of transplant surgery is not easy, however proper knowledge and information about the same can combat the excess anxiety and act as moral support. Surgeons at PSRI headed by the expert cardiologist Dr. T.S.Kler , understand the importance of a healthy heart and are aimed at offering the most advanced heart treatments to its patients http://www.psrihospital.com/ . With PSRI, keep your worries at bay!