Hi, 5 weeks post surgery

[itsmallsx]

I was wondering what exercise recommendations any of you might have as I'm having trouble figuring out what to do to build up my strength and endurance to the point it was before

-a 17 year old deceased donor kidney transplant recipient

[WYOAnne NKF Ambassador]

Congratulations on your transplant! You want to take it easy and not do anything too strenuous. Walking is the best exercise. Start out walking every other day and then increase it. Even if you just start 15 min a day and then gradually increase the time.

DO NOT do anything where you are bending over a lot and are putting pressure on your incision. Remember, you are immunosuppressed and do not heal like you did before your transplant. I wound up with an incisional hernia in my transplant incision and I was not doing anything that would be considered strenuous. I actually had to have it repaired surgically twice.

I had a 16 year old deceased donor. I am living well 19+ years post transplant!!

[itsmallsx in reply to WYOAnne]

Thanks for the advice! My incision is almost totally healed and my doctors told me I can swim in chlorinated pools by May if all goes well. My recovery time is taking a bit longer than I wanted because I was in and out of the hospital for 3 weeks.

[Ladybug_05]

Congrats! As you are only 5 weeks post surgery, I'd imagine that you have lifting restrictions and the like. My team recommended walking and biking (stationary or regular) for the first 12 weeks. I'm 14 weeks post currently and was allowed strength training using exercise machines starting after 12 weeks, but with no resistence to start.

Even though you probably feel a lot better, don't push yourself too hard! You just had a major abdominal surgery and a new organ was hooked up to your vascular system. Plus, you're on a lot of new meds to begin with and you are immunocompromised. Recovery is 3 months and transition from what I've been told is up to a year, so take your time.

I walked for about 20-30 minutes per day, or as long as my body allowed. I also started tossing a ball while walking to start building up arm endurance and dexterity. After 3 months came around I started doing light yoga to stretch and strengthen my muscles. I also use a rowing machine! Those are just some things that I found that I liked and could do with my recovery thus far. Once your incisions are healed and you're past the recovery stage into the second stage of transitioning into life with your new kidney, find activities that you enjoy and can do now that you have a kidney that works!

[itsmallsx in reply to Ladybug_05]

Thanks so much for the advice! I'm in the 11th grade finishing up the year at home, so much of my time is spent sitting down and working on school.

[Ladybug_05 in reply to itsmallsx]

I get it! I'm going to be going back to school this June (I'm a junior in college) after taking time off, so my butt will be spending a lot of time on my computer doing homework and things as well.