The two bean-shaped organs called kidneys are fist-size filters located below your rib cage and in the area near your middle back. The kidneys filter blood and remove waste, including urine, from your body. Kidney failure, which is often caused by diabetes or high blood pressure, requires dialysis to do the work of the failed kidneys, or else a kidney transplant from a healthy donor. A kidney transplant is a serious operation that lasts about three hours and requires a lengthy recovery period after hospitalization. Post-surgery exercise is recommended to help with the recovery process and to maintain physical and mental fitness.
Operation and Recovery
The kidney transplant operation involves a surgical incision in the lower stomach to insert and attach the donor kidney to the artery and vein in your pelvic area and to the bladder. The operation is followed by three to seven days of recovery in the hospital and about six months of recovery following hospitalization. Your physician closely monitors your condition for two months after surgery with tests to monitor the effects of medications and any immune system problems, such as organ rejection and infections. You may, with doctor approval, begin moderate daily exercise, such as walking, when you return home from the hospital.
Exercise Benefits
You should resume normal activities as soon as you are able following transplant surgery, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The medications that most kidney transplant patients take to suppress the immune system and prevent rejection of the donor organ might cause high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. Regular exercise, performed under your doctor's supervision, can help decrease your risk for these medical conditions and improve your overall mental and physical health, including reduction in body fat and improved circulation, breathing, cardiovascular system, muscle tone, bone strength and joint flexibility.
Precautions and Recommendations
Start your exercise program slowly with stretching and walking, and work your way gradually up to 20- to 30-minute sessions, three or four days per week. A plan to exercise every other day helps you stick to a regular schedule. Avoid strenuous physical activity and heavy lifting for at least six to eight weeks after surgery. Once your incision is healed, your exercise plan should include aerobic activity, stretching and strengthening. Workouts or routines should begin with warm-up periods and end with cool-down periods.
Exercises
Stretching exercises during warm-ups help improve your range of motion and prepare your muscles for exercise. Your exercise session can include aerobic exercises, such as walking, swimming other activities that raise your heart rate and increase your breathing rate. Strengthening exercises contract your muscles using free weights, resistance bands or your body weight as resistance. Cool down with more stretching exercises and allow enough time for your heart and breathing rates to return to normal.
Tips and Warnings
Talk to your doctor or your transplant team before beginning an exercise program. Your post-transplant instructions from your hospital provide guidelines to help you avoid injury or fatigue during exercise and to help you protect your incision during healing.
