The phone rings and it’s the call for your transplant!  You’ve waited days, months, or even years and now it’s time.  What can you expect to hear?  How long do you have to get to the hospital?  Every transplant is different, but I’ll cover these questions and more in today’s article.

Behind the Scenes of an Organ Offer

There are a ton of things that happen behind the scenes before you even hear from your transplant center.  Here’s a summarized list of what might be happening:

• When a patient has been declared brain dead or is nearing death, the hospital notifies their local OPO who determines whether that person has the potential to be a donor and if so, they will head to the hospital
• The OPO then checks to see if the person is a registered donor by checking the organ donation registry and if not, will obtain authorization from the family for donation
•  After authorization, the OPO gets the patients medical and social history from medical files and the family
• Once the evaluation is complete, the OPO contacts the OPTN and inputs information about the donor into the system
• A list of potential matches by organ is generated by the OPTN and offers are sent to their respective transplant centers
• The donor information is reviewed by the transplant center and they either accept or refuse the offer
  • (refusal can happen if, for instance, the patient is too sick to be transplanted at that time or cannot be reached in time)
• The deceased donor’s organs are maintained through artificial support until the organ recovery can take place
• The team caring for the donor is never the same as the ones recovering organs
• Once an organ is accepted, the clock starts
• Each organ will remain viable for a limited amount of time once recovered from the donor, so every minute counts (4-36 hours)
• Transplant centers have a very limited window to contact their patient before they must move on to the next person on the list

Preparing for the Call for Transplant

As you can see, a lot is going on and time is of the essence.  By doing a little preparation, you can help the whole process along.

• Make sure the transplant center has updated contact information for you and several others.  Family, friends, and even a neighbor can be useful for them to call if you can’t be reached.
• Keep your phone on and your ringer turned up.
• Make sure your voicemail is set up and cleared so your transplant center can leave a message.
• Don’t screen your calls.  While the call for transplant might come from your hospital, it could also come from a transplant nurse calling from their cell at 2 a.m.
• Be sure someone knows where you are and how to get ahold of you if something isn’t working with your phone.
• Make sure your go-bag is packed and ready.

The Official Call for Transplant

When the call comes in, it may sound a little like this, “This is the nurse from the transplant center.  We have a potential donor for you.”

Why do transplant centers use words like “potential?”  Well, it’s just that, potential.  When a donation is available, many things are happening simultaneously, including calling the transplant recipient.  Coordinators are arranging surgical schedules so that the organs can be recovered and transplant surgeries performed in the shortest timeframe possible.  It is possible that your transplant team has not yet laid eyes on the organ they plan to use for your transplant and they need to be sure it is viable and will be a good fit.  Honestly, there are any number of things that could happen, so until you wake up in recovery with your new transplanted organ, it remains potential.

They are going to ask you how you are feeling physically.  Have you had any infections?  Are you running a fever of any kind?

They will ask you when you last ate.  This is simply something taken into account when planning the surgery so it will not make you ineligible (even if you just ate a meal).  You will need to be NPO (have had nothing to eat or drink) for a period of time before surgery so they will give you instructions to be sure you are ready.

Timing After the Call for Transplant

When I received my call for my transplant, I was in the hospital watching the sunrise just before 6 a.m.  My transplant was 18 hours later at midnight that night (so, technically the next morning I guess).  The transplant team at my hospital splits into two when an offer comes in.  One set of surgeons goes to the donor hospital for the recovery and the other preps the recipient.  Even with two different groups managing the surgeries, the timing has to be just right, and performing recovery surgery takes time.  

Every situation will be different (probably not what you want to hear…sorry about that).  Some will have a short period of time from the call to transplant, others will have much longer.  This can depend on the organ you will be receiving or even how far away you are from the hospital.  One of the factors taken into account during matching is the travel time of the recipient, so keep that in mind.

What to Do After the Call

Much of what you do after the call will depend on what your transplant center advises.  However, nothing requires you to get in your car and speed like a Formula 1 driver to the transplant center.  Grab your go-bag (and double-check it for any essentials) and head to the hospital.

Once you are at the hospital, there will be testing and prep work that will be done for your transplant.  After all of that is complete, the likelihood is you will be spending some time sitting and waiting.  Take a deep breath and keep yourself busy with things to distract you a bit from the anxiety and excitement.

What About False Alarms?

False alarms happen.  They are common, so try not to let it discourage you if you experience one (or several).  Keep in mind, there are a lot of things going on behind the scenes.  Ultimately, you want the best possible organ to give you the best possible chance at life.  If that means getting four hours down the road only to have to turn around and go back home, then so be it.  You can also look at this as a practice run.  Do you have everything packed that you’d need?  Was the route to the hospital clear or should you plan an alternate?  This is a good chance to make sure things will run as smoothly as possible.

No doubt getting the call for transplant is a huge moment in life.  You will not forget everything you feel when that moment comes, so try to enjoy the ride.  Someone decided to save lives in their death and you get to be the recipient of that kindness.  Can you think of anything more worth reveling in?  I can’t.