Transplant Institute
The Transplant Institute, part of the Department of Surgery, offers nationally recognized patient care, research programs, and education and training opportunities.
Recovery & Life After Pancreas Transplant
A healthier future, free of diabetes
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What to Expect After Pancreas Transplant
Pancreas transplant changes your life. You’re likely to be free of insulin injections, diet restrictions and many of the complications diabetes can cause. But you’re not free of responsibility.
Taking good care of yourself and your new pancreas — and possibly your new kidney, too — is vital to a successful transplant. And that must continue for the rest of your life. Fortunately, you don’t have to do it alone.
At the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) Transplant Institute we’re here to guide you. We can help you learn to take your medicines correctly, track your health and watch for signs of trouble. Working together, our goal is to keep your new pancreas functioning well for years to come.
Post-Surgery Care & Recovery
After pancreas transplant surgery, you first go to our post-anesthesia recovery unit (PACU). Stays in the PACU van vary, but typically you spend four to 12 hours there before moving to our dedicated inpatient transplant unit (Farr 10).
After the transplant, the work of learning to safely care for yourself begins. You have many things to remember when you leave the hospital. Taking an active role in your self-care and developing a daily routine while you are in the hospital will help you better care for yourself after you go home. Our doctors, nurses and other team members are here to help you. But at this point, your role as a member of the transplant team is vital. For the rest of your life, you are the person who will provide most of the care for your new pancreas.
When you’ve learned to care for yourself and it’s safe for you to be home, you’ll be ready to leave the hospital. It’s OK if you feel a bit uneasy. Getting an organ transplant is a major life event. It will take time to feel like yourself again and get used to the routines you must follow to stay well.
You can call your transplant team any time you have questions or concerns. The written material we give you at discharge and the information on this website can help.
When you first get home, walking for just five to 10 minutes a day can help you maintain muscle tone and strength. You can slowly increase your walking time each day and may want to add some stair climbing. It’s normal to get tired fairly easily, so if you need to rest, do so. You shouldn’t start strenuous exercises, such as contact sports, jogging, tennis and weightlifting for at least two months after surgery.
As it was before your transplant, staying smoke-free is critical. Your transplant team lets you know when you can begin to drive again, travel, and return to work or school. You can decide when to resume sexual activity depending upon how you feel. Discomfort after a transplant usually doesn’t interrupt sexual activity for more than a few weeks.
Avoiding pregnancy is extremely important after organ transplantation, until such a time that it is safe and your medications have been appropriately adjusted. Please discuss any plans for pregnancy with your transplant doctor.
Signs & Symptoms of Complications
Watching for signs of transplant complications is very important. After a pancreas transplant, possible signs of problems include tenderness over your pancreas or blood sugar readings higher than 200. Bring these and other concerns to our attention right away.
More About Recovery & Life After Pancreas Transplant
Possible Pancreas Transplant Complications
Infection
Because of the medications you take after a transplant to suppress your immune system, you have an increased risk of infection. For a short time, you take medication to prevent infection. We explain to you what to watch for. If you notice possible signs of infection, please alert us quickly. When needed, we can bring infectious disease specialists onto your care team.
Pancreas Rejection
Rejection is a signal that your immune system sees your new pancreas as foreign tissue and is trying to get rid of it. It may happen soon after your surgery. Preventing rejection with immune-suppressing medication is our top priority. But watching for signs of rejection is important, too.
The most common sign of rejection is a change in the way your pancreas works. For example, we may notice that pancreatic enzymes and/or blood sugar levels are higher than normal on a blood test. We may then do more blood work, a biopsy and ultrasound to confirm you’re rejecting your pancreas. If you are, we increase the amount of your anti-rejection medication or prescribe a different combination of anti-rejection drugs.
When we detect a rejection episode early enough, we can usually reverse it. But if the episode is severe, it may shorten the overall life span of your new pancreas.
Your Medications
After your transplant, there are a variety of medications you must take. You take some, such as anti-rejection medicines, for the rest of your life. You get high doses at first, then the doses decrease. You take other medications, including those that prevent infections, for only a short time.
At BIDMC, you can benefit from the way we carefully plan your medications to minimize the effects of chronic steroid use. Only a handful of centers offer these protocols. Typically, medications that suppress your immune system contain steroids that can raise blood sugar levels. Elevated blood sugar puts stress on a newly transplanted pancreas and may cause many other side effects.
We help you set up a medication schedule, but it’s up to you to manage that schedule. It’s important to not stop taking your medication or to change the dose without talking to your transplant team, even if you have unpleasant side effects.
You may need to tolerate some side effects temporarily in order to prevent organ rejection. If you do have problems, however, tell your transplant team. Your doctor may be able to adjust your medication.
Daily Health Tracking at Home & Follow-Up Visits
At home, self-monitoring is especially important. We provide ongoing care and checkups, as well as tools to help you after your organ transplant, including health tracking information and other helpful resources.
Before you leave the hospital, we schedule a follow-up visit for you with a transplant surgeon or physician. It’s important to keep this appointment and all future appointments. Follow-up care allows us to check your progress, review your medications, and do certain laboratory tests to be sure you and your new organ are doing well. You may need blood tests at a lab near your home (or at the hospital) between visits, as well.
We also may order other tests, such as CT Scans or a biopsy, at certain times.
Your visits to our outpatient transplant clinic generally follow this schedule:
- Once a week for up to three months
- Then every two weeks
- Moving to once a month
- Eventually once every six to eight weeks
- Finally, once every three to six months
Always tell your health care providers that you have had a transplant. That way, if you become ill, they can determine whether your symptoms are related to your transplant. We recommend that you keep a list of your current medications, as well as any drug allergies, with you at all times.
Diet & Nutrition
Because of the medication you take, you’re more likely to be affected by germs that may be on or in foods than someone who hasn’t had a transplant. That makes it important to wash all fruits and vegetables thoroughly before eating them. You also should avoid these foods:
- Raw eggs in any form (including cookie dough and eggnog)
- Raw or undercooked meat
- Raw shellfish
- Sushi
Grapefruit — and juices or beverages that contain grapefruit — can interfere with your medicine. So it’s important to avoid them, as well.
You will feel better with your new pancreas. Your diet will be less restricted, and some of the medicines you take may increase your appetite. This makes it important for you to follow a healthy eating plan so you avoid gaining too much weight. We work with you to develop an individualized diet plan. It considers your needs and any restrictions you might have.
Learn more about nutrition and food safety after transplant.
Life After Pancreas Transplant
Pancreas transplant is successful in about 90% of people who have it. With the first year after surgery, they no longer need to take insulin. After the first year, more than two-thirds of pancreas transplant recipients are still off insulin. And after 10 years, half of the transplanted pancreases are still working.
Organs that are still working at 10 years typically go on to work for many more years. Surgeons are hopeful that this success rate will climb even higher in the future because of ongoing improvements with medications.
Preventing Long-Term Complications
Some complications occur early in the transplant process. Others occur much later. We provide ongoing care and support to help prevent these problems and deal with them if they happen.
Low Blood Pressure
After a pancreas transplant, you may have low blood pressure, especially when you stand. If you do, we may lower the amount of blood pressure medicine you take or stop it altogether. In some cases, we prescribe medication to keep you from getting dizzy. Usually, problems with low blood pressure get better with time.
Diabetes
Diabetes after pancreas transplant is possible years after surgery, likely Type 2 diabetes. In many cases, we can control Type 2 diabetes with diet or medication that you take by mouth. If you develop Type 2 diabetes, we recommend these steps:
- Exercise regularly
- Follow the diet your doctor or nutritionist recommends
- Take any medication your doctor prescribes to control your blood sugar
If you end up with a failed pancreas transplant, you may need insulin.
