Adequate nutrition is a very important aspect of liver transplantation. Your nutritional requirements will change over a relatively short period of time depending upon where you are in the transplantation process i.e. before the liver transplant, in hospital after the transplant or months to years after the transplant.
Your diet whilst you are awaiting your transplant
Many patients with severe liver disease have lost a significant amount of their body fat stores and body protein stores by the time they are referred to the liver transplant unit. The most important nutritional goal whilst waiting for your transplant is to eat enough food to stop your body losing more fat and more protein. This may be difficult if your appetite is poor. You will really need to work very hard at eating and this job does not end until some months after the transplant. If you have been advised to restrict some foods, you will need to be more careful of the sorts of food that you eat but it is still important that you work very hard to keep up a high energy/high protein intake.
The diet you were following when you first met the transplant team may be changed whilst you are waiting for transplantation. The dietitian and the doctors will discuss your individual requirements with you.
The most common restriction for people waiting for a liver transplant is a salt (sodium) restriction. If you have been advised to reduce your salt intake you will need to discuss this with one of the dietitians as salt occurs in many foods, both processed and naturally occurring. You will need some professional advice about reducing your salt intake at the same time as maintaining a high energy/high protein intake. If you continue to eat foods with a high salt content it will be more difficult to control the fluid in your abdomen and legs.
Most people waiting for a liver transplant have an increased need for energy. People with significant liver disease also need to eat more protein. If you cannot eat enough to meet your body’s increased energy and protein requirements you may be asked to use dietary supplements such as Ensure, Ensure Plus, Resource Plus, Polyjoule or Hepatamine or any combination of these.
The Social Worker’s Role in the Liver Transplantation Unit
The Social Worker on the team is available to work together with you and your family, to assist you with the ongoing process of liver transplantation and to support you in the decisions you need to make.
Some of the ways the Social Worker can assist are:
helping with the adjustment to living with an illness and negotiating the transplant process
relationship and family concerns
advising individuals of their rights
People can require added assistance with practical concerns such as:
hospital procedures and documentation
financial concerns, such as Centrelink options
accommodation – in or near the hospital
travel issues eg IPTAAS (Isolated Patients’ Travel and Accommodation Assistance Scheme)
provide education resources eg books, web pages about liver transplantation
lifestyle options such as recreation activities
organise interpreters and liaise with cultural community services
discharge planning eg community support referrals
The social work service is free and confidential and available to all patients, their families and carers.
You can contact the Social Worker through the Social Work Department telephone (02) 9515 3787 or ask the staff of the liver transplant team to contact the social worker by page.