Coming to the hospital for a new kidney

Get ready…

• If you are on the cadaver transplant list: Your transplant coordinator will provide you with a pager from LifePage, a not-for-profit organization which locates pagers from companies in the area willing to volunteer pagers to families waiting for transplants. This wait can be as long as ten weeks. As soon as the transplant surgeon and nephrologist accept an offer for a kidney, an organ procurement coordinator will contact 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 10 minutes.
• If you are receiving a transplant from a living donor: A date for surgery will be scheduled, and a donor evaluation will need to be cleared by the donor surgeon.

Get set...

• If you are on the cadaver transplant list: Be prepared ahead of time to leave the house as soon as possible, ideally 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 for the transplant.
• If you are receiving a transplant from a living donor: There will be many appointments and trips to Children's Memorial in the weeks prior to your scheduled transplant date. The transplant coordinator will help you set up all necessary appointments. Several days before transplant, both the donor and the recipient will come to Children's Memorial to have blood drawn for a final crossmatch.

Go!

• If you are on the cadaver transplant list: When the organ procurement coordinator calls you, he or she will direct you to the Admitting Department or the Emergency Department to be registered. Once you arrive, the team will be waiting to begin preparing your child for surgery. A lot of things need to happen in a short time before surgery, including a chest X-ray, blood tests, vital signs, height, weight, etc. As soon as your child is ready, we will take you and your child down to the second floor to surgery. Your child will go into the operating room while you and your family will go 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. Someone will periodically come out of the operating room to update you on the progress. After surgery, your child will recover in the PICU. Though you will see him or her pass the surgery waiting room in bed, you may need to wait another hour before visiting. It can often take that long to safely and comfortably settle your child in the unit.
• If you are receiving a transplant from a living donor: You will bring your child to the hospital the day before the transplant surgery is scheduled. (The Kidney Transplant team admits the recipient to Children's Memorial Hospital the evening before surgery; the General Surgery team admits the donor to Northwestern Memorial Hospital the morning of surgery.) The child is then registered in the Admitting Department before going up to the transplant floor. On the day of surgery, the child is taken to the operating room on the second floor at approximately 8 a.m. Friends and family may accompany them to the surgical waiting room and wait there during the surgery. The transplant coordinator will periodically come out of the operating room to update you on the progress of the operation. After surgery, your child will recover in the PICU. Though you will see him or her pass the surgery waiting room in bed, you may need to wait another hour before visiting. It can often take that long to safely and comfortably settle your child in the unit.

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