Monitoring your condition at home will help prevent problems or complications. While still at the hospital, patients learn to keep a daily entry as a way of monitoring their condition. The journal should be brought to each doctor’s visit. The daily entry should include:

• Weight taken in the morning after urinating and before having breakfast.
• Blood pressure and pulse. The transplant coordinator teaches the patient how to take their blood pressure and pulse.
• Temperature (or when the patient feels feverish). Patients should not eat or drink anything for ten minutes prior to taking their temperature; otherwise they will get a false reading.
• Immunosuppressant medication levels
• Creatinine levels
• White blood cell levels (WBC)
• Other medications the patient is taking

It’s a good idea for patients to write down any questions or concerns they have before going for a check-up. This will help make sure that they get all the information they need.