How long have you had to wait for a transplant?

[Cordelia]

Hi, I'm from Ontario, Canada. I'm currently on dialysis, been doing this since August of 2010.

I'm just wondering for people who have had a kidney transplant in the U.S, how long did you have to wait for your transplant from the time you started your testing to the time you receieved a transplant?

I'm just curious to see the difference between the countries to see if the wait time is as long as it is in Canada where I'm from.

I know everyone's answers will likely vary, but I'm just curious.

[bette1]

The wait can very a lot.  I am type o negative.  I waited two years for the kidney I received in 1994, and I waited about 3 1/2 years for the kidney I got in 2010.  Wait times can be long in the US. 

I don't believe that there is an age cut off here.  Is there one in Canada? 

[Elvis]

It varies from different areas. I was on two list in the states before I got called. I moved my Dialysis time from one hospital to another and it put me on the top of the list. I was on PD for about 3 and 1/2 years. it was tough but I did it. God was beside me evertime I hooked up to the cycler. Without him nothing is possible. Again after I moved to the new list I got the magic call about a month later after all of the test were run again.That was the bad part. If I could get my knees and legs back  in order I would feel 100% better. That is a real probelm for me right now. God willing I will get through this too.

[Cordelia]

It's interesting to hear one another's stories.

[willowtreewren]

My husband went on the list in May of 2008 and got his kidney in February 2011. The average wait for him was listed as 5 years.

Aleta

[Ang]

about 4.5 years from dialysis to transplant,about the average for australia

[okarol]

In Los Angeles, when Jenna first started dialysis, the wait for a deceased donor kidney was 4 to 6 years. (2004)
One year later the wait was 5 to 7 years.
She got a transplant from a living donor after 3 years on dialysis. (2007)
She has had that kidney just over 4 years, but after rejection episode 15 months ago, she only has 17% function, and will need another kidney.
The wait time in los Angeles now is 10 years. (2011)
We hope a living donor will come through.

[lou]

In the UK I was told the wait is around 2 - 3 years. I was very lucky as was on the list for about 18 months and dialysis for 6 months of that.

[Sax-O-Trix]

For a preemptive living donor, it took me 14 months from the very beginning to the transplant.  Scheduling the tests in a timely fashion was the biggest obstacle (two potential donors).  I almost had to have some tests done again because it had been over a year since I started the testing.  I was listed with UNOS for 6 months at the same time we were testing the live donors.

[WishIKnew]

I've been listed for three years - the wait time for O+ here in NE Ohio is 5-7 years.  I've had and do have a number of friends and relatives try/ing to be living donors.  No matches yet, but always hopeful!

[RightSide]

Here in the U.S., the wait for a cadaver transplant can vary tremendously, depending on your blood type and tissue type.

My blood type is AB, so my wait time was shorter than average.  I believe I waited around 18 or 19 months.

[bette1]

I was shocked by the difference in wait times that I experienced in 1994 and 2010.  In '94 the average wait time in Chicago for type O was 3 years and now it's 6 years.  They say that the difference is due to an aging population and the rise in diabeties.   

I was double listed both times and got my kidney in Wisconsin, one state over, where the wait times are shorter.

[okarol]

In Los Angeles, when Jenna first started dialysis, the wait for a deceased donor kidney was 4 to 6 years. (2004)
One year later the wait was 5 to 7 years.
She got a transplant from a living donor after 3 years on dialysis. (2007)
She has had that kidney just over 4 years, but after rejection episode 15 months ago, she only has 17% function, and will need another kidney.
The wait time in los Angeles now is 10 years. (2011)
We hope a living donor will come through.

I should have added that Jenna is O blood type (the + and - do not matter in organ transplants) and O's are the largest population waiting as they can only receive from O donors (unless they get treatments for ABO non-matching transplants.)

[Jie]

We have constant increase of patients on the waiting lists over time, while the donor population does not increase much, so the waiting times increase every year. With more safety cars in the road now, there will be less donors resulted from auto accidents. Another 10 years, unless there are break through on the artificial kidneys, there will be a lot more deaths from the waiting lists than getting transplants. 

[Cordelia]

Here in Canada, waiting for a cadaver kidney can be years-up to 7 years. With a living donor, it can be much shorter than that. It has taken me 8 months to even begin the testing process. My living donor (my husband) it has taken the same amount of time waiting for testing to even begin for him to see if he's a match for me.