Heart Transplant: Who Needs It, Risks, and What Comes After

When the heart can’t pump enough blood to keep you alive, a heart transplant, a surgical procedure where a failing heart is replaced with a healthy donor heart. It’s not a first choice—it’s the last option when every other treatment has failed. This isn’t a quick fix. It’s a major surgery with lifelong consequences, and not everyone is a candidate.

People usually get a heart transplant when they have severe heart failure, a condition where the heart muscle is too weak or stiff to move blood properly and other treatments like medications, pacemakers, or LVADs don’t help anymore. But even then, doctors screen carefully. If you have active infections, cancer that hasn’t been treated for five years, severe lung or kidney disease, or you’re not willing to quit smoking or drinking, you won’t qualify. Age alone doesn’t disqualify you, but your overall health does. A 70-year-old with strong kidneys and no diabetes might be a better candidate than a 50-year-old with uncontrolled high blood pressure and obesity.

After the transplant, you’re not out of the woods. You’ll need to take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of your life. These weaken your immune system, so you’re more likely to catch infections or develop skin cancer. Regular biopsies, blood tests, and checkups are non-negotiable. Many people bounce back to normal life—walking, working, even traveling—but they have to be disciplined. No skipping meds. No ignoring symptoms like shortness of breath or swelling. The body doesn’t always signal rejection the way it used to, so vigilance saves lives.

What’s missing from most conversations? The emotional side. Waiting for a donor heart can take months or years. The stress, the hope, the fear—it wears you down. And after the transplant, some people struggle with guilt—why them and not someone else? Support groups, counseling, and family involvement aren’t luxuries. They’re part of recovery.

There’s no magic cure for heart failure. But when a heart transplant is the right move, it gives people back years they thought they’d lost. The posts below cover what doctors actually look for before approving surgery, what happens when transplants fail, and how alternatives like LVADs compare. You’ll also find real stories from people navigating this journey in India—what worked, what didn’t, and what no one tells you before you sign the consent form.