When the call comes, how much time to get to hospital?

[Deanne]

When you got "the call" how much time did the hospital give you to get there? My mom makes me laugh in a  kind of way. She asked me last night when I expect to be transplanted so they can make plans to come out. They're in Minnesota, I'm in Oregon. I told her I can't answer that unless I start polling people on the streets about when they expect to be killed in a car wreck. Her logic was that when my niece died, they knew several days in advance that she was going to pass. She died from liver failure, which led to kidney failure - no donor organs there! Mom doesn't always get it. Anyway, it did make me wonder just how much time I will have to get to the hospital when the call comes. What was your experience?

[Joe]

My transplant team told me I would have about 2 hours to get to the hospital from the time they called and said it was a go. I live about 90 minutes away, if traffic and such are good, so I'll be hauling tail to get there.

[MooseMom]

I've wondered about this, too, because if you happened to have read the amazing story about the 30 kidney transplant chain, some of those kidneys flew a long way away.  I suspect the 2 hour window is what they all say but that there is some flexibility.

[willowtreewren]

Carl got his call around midnight and they told him to be at the hospital at 9:00 AM.

I'll never forget that night. We "planned" to o back to sleep then get up at the regular time and go into school to open it up before the rest of the staff arrived. The only problem was....

We could NOT go back to sleep. So after about 45 minutes of lying awake, we got up, did some preparation (such as contacting folks and getting long term issues arranged) and finally went back to bed around 3:00 AM. Then up at 6:00 for that long, long day.

I actually had a doctor appointment at 9:20 AM at the same hospital, so I dropped Carl off, went to park, got the shots in my knees and met him at transplant just as they were taking him to his room. The kidney did not arrive until around 10:00 AM and then they had to do the crossmatch.

Then the endless waiting for the results.....

So, we had lots of time!

Aleta

[coravh]

I don't remember exactly how long it took me to get there, but it was waaaay more than 2 hours. I got the call on the 26th of Feb and was transplanted on the 27th (my 4th pancreas anniversary is coming up!). I do know that my pancreas was on ice for 17 hours all together. And it's working fine. I know that the sooner the better, but there is some time available.

Cora

[jeannea]

I live almost 2 hours from my center. But one day I was backup for a kidney, they called me at 7:30 am but the kidney wasn't removed from the donor til after 7 pm and they told me at 10 pm not to come. I think it really varies. But not days.

[Brightsky69]

I live about 15 minutes away from the hospital where I had my 1st and 2nd transplant (about 19 years apart). The 2nd transplant was from a deceased donor. They called me about 8am saying they "might" have a kidney for me. The donor was scheduled for surgery later on that afternoon. I guessing she was not expected to survive the surgery. I went to work anyway....and they called me at work around 11am and said get to the hospital ASAP. I had to wait because they had no available operating room to do anything until almost 27 hours later. 

[Chris]

When I was called after 1 am, I was told to be there within 2 hours. Well I gotthere in 40 and had to wait for awhile in the ER wait room with sick people.
So maybe arriving to soon isn't the best thing.

[Marina]

I  guess  it  all depends  on how  far you  live  from the  center  and how  far  the  donor  is  from the  TX  center.

I  got  called  around  10:30pm.    Have you had  any  colds,  fevers,  chills  lately  or  active  infections?          "We  might  have  a  kidney  for you,  are you  interested?"  was  what they  told  me. 
I  was  told  the  surgeons  had  gone  to check the kidney  out.  I  would  get  an  answer  by  2 or  3am.

Do you  think  I  slept?    HECK  NO.           Emailed  everyone  I  know,   paid   bills,  finished  packing my  bag,  what  else??  oh  I  stayed  away from  food  and  drinks  as  instructed.

At  3am  my  phone  rang.     I  was  told  both  kidney  and  pancreas  checkout  great.   "what  time  can  you  get to the hospital?"        I  live  30-45 minutes  away.      So  I  told  them  I'll  get  on the  road  right now.
I  got  a  phone  call   2 minutes  later,   and  they  said   I  could  either  go   then  or  wait  until  5am.
I  decided  to  wait  until  5am.

I  was  rolled   out  of  my  room  at  10am and  into  OR   sometime  between  10:30-10:45am.