Pediatric kidney transplantation part 22

How will a transplant change your child's life

A lot depend on what your child's life was like before transplant. If they are a "normal" kid and have never taken medicine a day in their life, a transplant will make a big diffrence in their life. On the other hand, if they have struggled with kidney disease in the past, they may be familiar with medications, blood tests and frequent visits to the doctor. The biggest change in your child's life is that they now have a new kidney and a chance for a full life. This gift of life is not without cost, however;

• Your child will have to take medicine every day for the rest of their life to make sure their body does not reject the new kidney
• The medicines used to prevent rejections put your child at increased risk for other problems including infection, tumors and other possible side effects  such as high blood pressure or diabetes
• They will also need to have blood and other tests for the rest of their life to make sure that their medicine is working well, look for any side effects, and look for signs of rejection and infection. They will need to develop relationships with different healthcare professionals and learn to be part of their own health care team as they get older and move from a pediatric to adult care. Good communications with your transplant team is essential to success