Activities after a transplant

[tyefly]

   I was wondering about activities after a transplant.... someone had told me that we should not do certain things  llike   gardening .....  I love gardening and have a green house and do many things with plants....  plus I something was said about fish  .... I have several Aquariums and I have to maintain those.. what about pets....   I do have two dogs...    swimming in a lake???  River.... I like to fish for salmon and steelhead, touching those would be bad...   
   Where can I find a list  or more information about what we cannot do after a transplant... I would sure like to know  up front...   I realize sometimes we need to make changes ,,,,,  but I love playing in the dirt....    any info please......

[okarol]

After a transplant, preventing infection is mostly common sense. Protect yourself by following these simple guidelines:

    * Wash your hands with soap and water often to remove bacteria and viruses; keep your hands away from your face and mouth. You should wash your hands when you come in from outdoors, before you prepare food, before you eat, after working with papers, after cleaning, and after using the bathroom.
    * When you cough or sneeze, use tissues, dispose of them immediately, and wash your hands.
    * If someone you know has a cold or the flu, avoid close contact. Don't hesitate to tell your friends about your special situation and ask that they postpone visiting when they are ill.
    * Shower instead of bathe and practice good personal hygiene.
    * Maintain a well-balanced diet. Wash before and after handling food. You can even use a small amount of soap when cleaning fruits and vegetables. Avoid raw eggs, raw shellfish, and raw meats; they can harbor bacteria. Keep hot foods hot, and cold foods cold. Don't eat foods whose freshness is in question.
    * It's fine to live with pets, but you must be able to delegate cleaning the birdcage, changing the cat's litter, and cleaning up after the dog to someone else. You should always wash your hands after handling your pets and especially before eating.
    * Avoid stagnant water because it too harbors bacteria. This includes denture cups, flower vases, soap dishes, and fresh water ponds. Swimming in chlorinated pools is permitted.
    * Wear gloves when gardening and, again, wash your hands thoroughly when done.

[Wenchie58]

I am 9 months post transplant.  I do everything I did prior to transplant...including fish!  Don't give up on those steelhead...they are the most fun fish I have ever caught.  I ALWAYS carry hand sanitizer with me, I avoid sick people and wash my hands more than one can imagine.
I have had one 24 hour stomach virus since Tx but other than that nothing, not even my typical winter cold.
I still garden and have flower beds, kept my dog..though I gave up my bird (a bit more risk than I was willing to take).
The way I look at it...I must be "careful" not "paranoid".  Keeping up on hygiene and wash wash wash those hands.
Oh yeah.....I gave up rare steak....now eat it medium well.

[kellyt]

I was told:
 - no gardening for the first three months.  After that I have to wear gloves and a mask if I'm digging in dirt and such.
 - no new pets for the first year.
 - avoid close contact with other peoples pets for the first year.  Of course, wash your hands after petting animals.
 - not to clean up after my pet for the first three months.  After that wear gloves.
 - never to own birds.
 - not to mess with litter boxes.
 - no hot tubs.
 - no raw/rare meat.
 - no raw fish.
 - no raw cookie dough (whaaaa!)

I didn't hear anything about owning fish.

[chris73]

I do everything i did b4 tx...just wash hands more often and carry sanitizer .I was a little particular first couple months. Dont give up on things you enjoy doing.As for green house just wear a mask for first little bit.I enjoy dirt track racing i go to everyone i get a chance to.Hope this helps. God Bless!!  Chris

[Chris]

I did have birds for a few years  2 years post tx and didn't have a problem. My dad use to breed canaries and I use to feed them and kept one as a pet. However no replacement for the parrot I use to have. He also bred fish, but now has 2 big tanks, one for Oscar's and the other for less aggressive fish ( I don't care for fish, so not around them anyway).I also went to school and worked with animals for the veterinary tech program at my college, again no problems there. Seems I have had more problems not doing things I like to do or be around.

My transplant center did know about this also, I just had to take precautions. Don't give up, be sure to tell your center what you do and that you may not have help doing so they can give you more advice.

[kellyt]

I think the biggest thing my doctors and clinic stressed hand washing and keeping your hands away from your face (eyes and mouth in particular).  All the other stuff is probably precautionary, but just use your common sense.

I had asked when I could go places like the mall and out to eat.  He said to go whenever I felt up to it and I could walk without being pain.  He stay away from people who are coughing, sneezing, runny nose, etc.  (obviously sick) and don't run your hands up and down the escalator handle and such and then put them in your mouth.  Again, common sense.

[Chris]

Forgot about cats!

 Wear Gloves and mask. Any cuts, neosporine it and cover it up. After cleaning, change clothes and wash up.

[Hanify]

I can't believe it! No Hot tubs after transplant?  Are you serious?  So even if I am allowed a transplant one day, I still won't be able to go to the hot pools in Taupo.  For goodness sake - I don't know if I'll bother!  Are you really not supposed to even have a bath?

[Chris]

I have gone a couple times and haven't had a problem. I only stay in for  10 minutes then jump in the pool and did some laps, got out started freezing and set the timer to the hot tub to turn on and got right back in. They are relaxing and made my back feel beter at the time. My back did not hurt all that time while on vacation.

Maybe I was in a jacuzzi though, it had bubbles with hot water?

[Hanify]

Oh thank goodness Chris - so I can break all the rules like I do now?  That's ok then lol.

[Wenchie58]

My doc told me no PUBLIC hot tubs...so I guess when I get an urge, I'm gonna have to buy one!

[Chris]

It say's that in my transplant book too, but how many people actually own their own pool/ hot tub out side of Arizona subdivision that I know of that they all have their own pool and hot tub. Small, but their own. The pool and hot tub I used at the hotel wasn't used when I was there, so I did take the risk to have some enjoyment. I like swimming though and want to when I can. While in physical therapy when doing pool exercises, we all wear shoes and it feels odd though. Not regular shes, people wear sandles and other lightweight types. Go swimming now and al I will be doing is swimming in circles like a fish dying in the tank.

I think you just have to reduce your risk as much as possible and shower afterwards. No swimming with any type of cut or wound anywhere on you. The question that comes to mind is which is safer, a pool or a body of open water like the ocean, lake, river?

[Wenchie58]

Tons of folks around here own both....pools for summer, hot tubs for winter.  I own neither....yet!

 

[kellyt]

I think mine specified "public hot tubs" as well, but if you own your own just be sure you take good care of it with the proper cleaning and such.  Now, I was never told not to take hot baths, but I'll have to inquire about that one.  I'm sure I"m not supposed to sit it hot, dirty, soapy water, but I'm usually an in and out kind of bather/showerer anyway.  I only take baths when the legs get too hairy.   

[Chris]

Thanks for sharing!  

[RichardMEL]

My doc told me no PUBLIC hot tubs...so I guess when I get an urge, I'm gonna have to buy one!

Or you stay in a hotel room with it's own hot tub/jacuzzi !!!! Like when you're in Vegas ! 

I wonder if salt water ocean or natural hot pools (like Hanify talks about) would be better.. Perhaps the spread of bacteria in the ocean isn't really an issue because the water is always moving and it's salt.. not sure about the hot springs though. I think the issue in a public hot tub is that it's a small amount of water that keeps going around and around and you have all sorts of people getting in and out with their bacteria, and you don't know how often it's cleaned or how well the water is chlorinated or whatever. I think that is the main issue.

I'm reminded of a sign at a hotel I go to a few times a year in Brisbane by their spa/jacuzzi (public). It says something about due to health risks don't submerge yourself in the spa... I think it's a similar thing.

[greco02]

Seriously, no birds  .     We have 3 and Jim handles 90% of their care and bird maintenance.    He will be very unhappy to hear he will have to give up his birds.  Have some of you kept your birds without incidence or have you given them up before your transplant so you never had to deal with a problem?   

[cariad]

These lists seem to get longer and longer every year. When I had my transplant (1976), I believe the little book only addressed smoking and drinking. Drinking was supposed to be in moderation, and smoking was frowned upon - so basically exactly what doctors were telling the general population.

I always detested the bossy tone of these booklets, and especially now that I am an adult, I intend to make up my own damn mind about what I can and cannot do. I am sure they will hand me some gigantic list of dos and don'ts after my transplant, but like others have said, it is just a question of basic hygiene and common sense. I am sure I will be more careful the first year, as that is the most uncertain. I have done nearly everything on these lists with no ill-effect.

Greco, my parents bought my sister a bird when I was a teenager. I can't say I intereacted with it much, but it certainly never made me sick. I have fed birds in zoos and picked up injured birds to give to rescue centers. I personally wouldn't worry about pet birds too much, unless they are outdoor birds that are out flying with wild birds, and then I probably would worry, transplant or not. But that is just me - birds are not my favorite thing. Perhaps if you take over the care of the birds for the first few months to a year?

To be painfully honest, the worst thing I ever did for my health post-transplant was to have two kids and send them to daycare and playdates and parties. The worst illnesses I've had, and the ones that probably did my kidney in a tad prematurely, were all brought straight to my door by my children, who acquired them from other kids. Still, I happen to think my kids are worth it.

[kellyt]

I think it's the feces of the birds/animals that is bad, not necessarily the birds/animals themselves, right?  Birds are kindof messy, so I would think that if you had someone that cleaned up after the birds and such instead of you then you would probably be ok.

[RichardMEL]

Here's another thing I remembered from the transplant seminar I went to last year and perhaps the transplantees can comment on this. They made comment several times about being sun smart - as in keeping out of it (Lucinda would see this as yet another reason to NOT have a transplant!! ) in that skin cancers and the like were that much more likely and you had to be VERY careful when it came to sun exposure....

[kellyt]

You are correct, Richard.  It's a medication thing I believe.  I wear an SPF sunblock face cream everyday, as well as a lotion that has sunscreen in it on my hands and arms.  I'm not crazy wierd about it, but I'm fair skinned anyway.

[Hanify]

I don't care about the sun.  Will only worry if the sun is shining when I'm at the hot pools in Taupo ha ha ha ha.  We used to really enjoy stopping by there when we drove up to Auckland, and they are particularly nice in winter.  I'm afraid if the day ever comes, I'm just gonna have to risk it!

[Chris]

Seriously, no birds  .     We have 3 and Jim handles 90% of their care and bird maintenance.    He will be very unhappy to hear he will have to give up his birds.  Have some of you kept your birds without incidence or have you given them up before your transplant so you never had to deal with a problem?

I, well my dad gave up my parrot before my transplant or any thought of a transplant. He thought I was to sick to take care of her and give her atention. So one day while at dialysis, he got rid of her. He gave or sold  her to a breeder.

Kelly, the main reason is the dander of the birds and then the feces because it collects . If you ever have a bird and watch it clean itself, watch it shake itself and see how much dander comes off and settles down if on something dark. A lot can come off due to the feathers that grow and collect dust in the air. I don't think mine would have been to bad, she loved to take showers every morning and be sprayed with water.

I didn't have a problem when I had canaries a few years post transplant, but I didn't clean their cage, someone else did. Larger birds I would thing cause more of a problem, but I still wish I had mine.

[cariad]

They made comment several times about being sun smart - as in keeping out of it (Lucinda would see this as yet another reason to NOT have a transplant!!  ) in that skin cancers and the like were that much more likely and you had to be VERY careful when it came to sun exposure....

This was absolutely not mentioned to me or my parents after my transplant. I think it was at least 15 years after my transplant that a doctor first mentioned this to me. My parents were extremely lax about applying sunscreen to their kids - today they would probably be arrested! 

I never avoided the sun - grew up playing tennis in Southern California. I love the beach, love the heat, love travelling to warm, exotic places. I have had a couple of skin biopsies in the past and have never had any skin cancer whatsoever. I admit I am very, very lucky, because anyone who has lived similarly would be at risk, and then the medications (mostly Imuran and Prednisone over the years) make it that much more risky. Still, there is little I can do about it now, and for me, I don't seem to be particularly vulnerable to skin cancer. I apply sunscreen everyday, and go out in the sun as much as I want. I also apply it to my kids, just because we now know that is the smart thing to do (plus, the government requires that all kids at licensed school programs wear sunscreen.)

With the birds, I was told it was because they carry a lot of diseases. Influenza, west nile - that was what I thought the issue was.

I have to be honest and say that a lot of these make me strongly suspect that doctors are just looking for more ways to blame patients when something goes wrong. When I had my second rejection episode I remember the horrible resident asking me what I did - did I smoke, drink, have sex? (Since when is having sex a transplant risk?) Then he ordered my mother out of the room and yelled "Now tell me the real answers". There were no questions about time in the sun, hanging out in hot tubs, or eating grapefruit, though I am sure this jerk would have loved to go through the laundry list and find some reason why this was all my fault. As we all know, most transplants will eventually fail. I don't let doctors blame me for what goes wrong with a transplant. I don't waste time blaming myself, either.