If an Alpha is a candidate for a lung or liver transplant, learn everything you can about the process. Know what the evaluation entails and what it means to get on the waiting list. (The process takes time, and it isn’t easy.) After someone is on a transplant list, life is still an adventure. There may be times the Alpha will get called in to the transplant hospital – only to be sent home because the donor organ wasn’t viable, or some other complication. These are stressful situations for both of you. Finally, when he has the transplant, you will both be staying near the hospital for some time – and then making frequent visits to the hospital for evaluations.
Understanding all of the medications and treatments after transplant can be mind boggling. After an organ transplant, the patient must be given medications that weaken the immune system, so both of you need to be more cautious than ever about preventing infections. Anyone who has a cold or an infection must stay away from a person who’s had a transplant. Keep antibacterial wipes or lotion on hand and use them freely to clean off any surface you’re concerned about.
- A Social Network of Transplant Buddies
- More information about donating the gift of life
Second Wind Lung Transplant Association
- Pre and post lung transplant support
Second Wind of St. Louis, Missouri
- St. Louis chapter of the Second Wind Lung Transplant Association. Provides support and information about lung transplant
Transplant Recipients International Organization (TRIO)
- Transplantation and organ donation information and resources for transplant candidates, recipients, donors, and their families
United Network for Organ Sharing
- The UNOS Organ Center is available 24 hours a day, every day of the year, to facilitate organ sharing among transplant centers, organ procurement organizations and histocompatibility laboratories across the U.S.
- UNOS provides patient education resources free of charge on their website. You can also view a pdf of each of the resources by clicking on the view PDF links below. To order these and other educational resources free of charge, please click here.
What Every Patient Needs to Know
This 52-page booklet is designed to help patients and their families through the organ transplant process. It provides information about preparing for a transplant, financial strategy, living donation, the transplant process and life after transplant. View PDF.
Questions and Answers for Transplant Candidates about Liver Allocation Policy
Explains how the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) and Pediatric End-Stage Liver Disease (PELD) numerical scales are used for liver allocation. View PDF.
Questions and Answers for Transplant Candidates about Lung Allocation Policy
Easy-to-read information for transplant candidates about lung allocation policy. View PDF.
Questions and Answers for Transplant Candidates about Multiple Listing and Waiting Time Transfer
Information for transplant candidates who want to list at multiple centers. View PDF.
What Every Kid Needs to Know about Organ Transplants
This booklet contains information to make the transplant process easier to understand for elementary-age children in need of an organ transplant. View PDF.
What Every Parent Needs to Know
Parents collaborated with transplant professionals to create this guide for families of young transplant candidates and recipients. It provides suggestions and resources parents can use before, during and after a child’s transplant. View PDF.
UNOS Facts and Figures
Information about how United Network for Organ Sharing coordinates the nation’s organ transplant system. View PDF.
