“How long does it take for your heart to recover after a transplant?”

As long as the heart did not take a significant amount of ischemic injury (aka lake of blood flow), while it is on ice being transported to the recipient, the heart "wakes up" and generally starts beating like normal almost immediately, however It is very common for the heart to be a little "sluggish" in the first few days, and requires inotropes (aka adrenaline) drips to help the heart wake up. Its similar to when you sit too long, your leg falls asleep, you get up and after you walk around for a little bit and the leg returns to normal. Sometime when the heart sits on ice too long, it needs a minute to wake up.

Everyone recipient recovers differently but generally the recipient is in the ICU for a days then another few days on the step-down unit. Most people stay int he hospital until their first biopsy.