Your Follow-up Visit Schedule Following Liver Donation Surgery
As part of your follow-up care
after liver donation surgery, you will meet regularly with your healthcare provider. This is so your doctor can make sure that you are staying safe and healthy.
The first follow-up visit will be about 1 to 2 weeks after you leave the hospital. You should plan on having two to three follow-up visits with your provider within the first several months after your surgery. You will continue to be followed until you and the members of your transplant team are confident that it's time to release you from their care. However, you are encouraged to call your providers at any time if you have questions or concerns.
When you schedule your appointments, your provider will tell you where these visits will be -- sometimes they're at the hospital and sometimes they're at a private clinic.
Your First Follow-up Appointment
Several things will likely happen at your first follow-up appointment.
Your healthcare provider will ask you how your recovery is going and whether you are having any problems. If you are having problems, your provider will address them.
The surgical staples or stitches used to close your incision may have been removed before you left the hospital. If not, they will be removed at some point during this appointment.
You may also have lab tests done to check the amount of liver enzymes and blood cells in your blood. This helps your healthcare provider know how well your liver is functioning. You provider may also check to see how much your liver has grown since the surgery. This can be done through an ultrasound, a CT scan, or MRI.
