General guidelines for visiting my mom, post lung transplant, after my dog has been sick?

Lung

My mom just got a lung transplant about a week and a half ago, and up until that point, I would bring my service dog to the hospital to visit her. Luckily, over the last year and a half, I have not needed to use him as a service animal much, but I still liked to bring him to visit her because 1) she loves him and 2) I'm pretty sure he loves her more than me. (He also needs the practice because I haven't been using him as much.)

That being said, the doctor hadn't really given us any guidance about animals until today. He set a very conservative limit of no pets until 3 months post-operation, which I'm fine with. The doctor said that lung transplant patients are particularly finicky with animals. He has a vet appointment on Tuesday, so I can make sure he's up to date on all his vaccines and otherwise healthy.

My question is, how long should I wait (if at all) to visit my mom if my dog has been sick? He woke me up 6 times last night wanting to go out because he had diarrhea. I'm 90% certain it was something he ate, but I felt it would be best to wait at least 24 hours after his symptoms have cleared up. I've been washing my hands after cleaning up after him.

I'm going to call the transplant coordinator tomorrow when she's back in the office to see if she has any further guidance, but do you guys have any advice on this? Do I need to clean everything? Get him a new bed?

Posted May 10, 2026, 10:01 PM UTC

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