Guide to Life After Liver Transplantation

      1. Oral care: A soft toothbrush should be used so as not to damage the gums. Brush your teeth immediately after meals and rinse your mouth with an antibacterial mouthwash. If you have dentures, you should clean them thoroughly after each meal.  2. General hygiene: It is important to maintain a good level of personal health hygiene to help reduce the risk of infection. You should try to pay attention to the following aspects: wash frequently, preferably in the shower.  Take liquid soap from a no-open cap soap and water container instead of using a soap box.  Change washcloths daily.  Wash your hands before and after meals, and clean your nails thoroughly with a nail brush.  Menstruating women should change their sanitary napkins and tampons regularly, as blood is an ideal medium for bacteria. Do not use any feminine hygiene lotions. These products contain disinfectants, which can disrupt the normal flora in a woman’s vagina thereby increasing the chances of infection and chance. Regular washing with mild soap and water is enough.  3. Pay attention to maintain a good mental state: After experiencing the pain and suffering of the disease before liver transplantation, for patients, liver transplantation is like a second life for them, and they deeply know that life is hard to come and health is precious. Due to the excessive concern about the disease, some patients may have anxiety, worry about rejection, be overly sensitive to the adverse reactions that occur after surgery, and even have sleep disorders, which is very important to do a good job of self-heart regulation. On the one hand, it is important to establish confidence to overcome the disease and restore health, and treat the disease correctly; on the other hand, actively cooperate with the doctor’s treatment. After liver transplantation, every patient may have rejection or complications, but most of them can be cured and recovered if they actively cooperate with the doctor’s treatment.  Due to the effect of hormones and some immunosuppressants, the patient’s appearance may change, such as acne, hirsutism, weight gain, etc. At this time, you should not stop or change the medication without permission. On the one hand, you should actively face and overcome low self-esteem, on the other hand, you can switch to drugs with less side effects under the advice of the doctor.  After discharge, patients have to face their families, friends and society, and must do a good job of role change, to learn how to arrange their lives, work and study, and gradually reach back to society, and live like normal people.  4. Keep your home clean: You should regularly clean your kitchen and bathroom, especially the refrigerator. However, it is not necessary to use special disinfectants, using general stain removers and liquid cleaners will be sufficient. As usual, you should also clean the other rooms, and should change the bedding every 2 weeks.  5. Sexual life and fertility For married patients, after liver transplantation, sexual life can be resumed gradually with the improvement of physical condition, but there is no definite conclusion on the time to start sexual life after surgery, it should depend on the recovery status of liver function of the transplant patients, and there are very big individual differences. In general, the start of normal sexual life should be more than 3 months after surgery. Early sexual life should not be frequent, and it should be moderate with good spirit and no fatigue, as well as no back pain and other symptoms the next day. In addition, during sex, attention should be paid to contraception to prevent unnecessary pregnancy; if there is no fixed sexual partner, it is recommended to use condoms during sex to prevent sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS, syphilis, gonorrhea, hepatitis, papillomavirus and other infections.  Regarding fertility, after liver transplantation, taking certain immunosuppressive drugs such as azathioprine can reduce the sperm count in men, but they can still have children normally. In general, women with liver transplantation who are allowed to have children should have the following conditions: (1) age less than 35 years, liver transplantation more than two years, good health; (2) no significant hypertension, no history of proteinuria and rejection; (3) no dilated renal pelvis on recent intravenous urography, serum creatinine and urea nitrogen values are within the normal range; (4) immunosuppressive drugs are within the normal maintenance dose. There have been many successful cases of fertility after liver transplantation at home and abroad. If you have a request for fertility after liver transplantation, it is recommended to consult with your transplant surgeon and obstetrician to make a reasonable plan.