By the third or forth day after transplant, patients usually can walk and begin regaining their strength.
Some patients can go home by the seventh or eighth day and continue independent exercises at home.
Some may need home visits from a physical therapist to get back in condition. Patients who have spent a long time in the hospital and whose muscles are exceptionally weak may need a longer rehabilitation period. Those patients may need a short stay at a rehabilitation facility. Staff at the RIC are knowledgeable about the special care that heart transplant patients need. Long-Term Management of Heart Transplantation You and the transplant team will work closely together to manage your long term health.