Getting ready for a new heart
Get ready...
Your transplant coordinator will provide you with a pager from LifePage, a not-for-profit organization that locates pagers from companies in the area willing to volunteer pagers to families waiting for transplants. As soon as the transplant surgeon and cardiologist accept an offer for a heart, the transplant coordinator on call will call you by phone. If we are unable to reach you by phone, we will page you to 773.880.4000. Please call us as soon as you receive the call — within 5 to 10 minutes.
Get set...
Be prepared ahead of time to leave the house within 15 minutes. It is helpful to have a bag packed. Remember, do not give your child anything to eat or drink after we call you in for transplant.
Go!
After you reach the hospital, the transplant coordinator will direct you to the Admitting Department or the Emergency Department to be registered.
- Once you arrive on the inpatient unit, the team will be waiting for you to begin the preparation for surgery.
- A lot of things need to happen before surgery in a short time, including chest X-ray, blood tests, vital signs, height, weight, and the first by-mouth doses of antirejection medications.
- As soon as your child is ready for the operating room, we will take you to the second floor to surgery.
- Your child will go into the operating room and the transplant coordinator on call will take you to the surgery waiting room, which is also on the second floor.
- It is good to take breaks with your family to eat and rest, but be sure to tell the transplant coordinator where you will be in case of an update, which will occur periodically throughout the procedure.
- After surgery, you will see your child pass the surgery waiting room in his or her bed on the way to the Intensive Care Unit.
- Your nurse will notify you when you may see your child.