Liver transplant patient and family mandatory education class

Alan here:

Today I went to UCSF to attend the orientation meeting for prospective liver transplant recipients and their families. Mom and Dad were there too, of course, along with about two dozen other people.

The meeting was held in a conference room on the liver transplant floor right down the hall from where the transplantees are recovering. Seeing the ICU, nursing staff and the hospital beds being wheeled around made me realize how close (hopefully!) Mom is to receiving a transplant.

A liver transplant is a very big deal. We learned about a bunch of stuff: the priority scoring system (see www.unos.org), getting ready for the surgery, the size of the incision (huge), potential complications, medications (many), family support, thanking the donor family, etc.

The hospital people seem really nice.

I also turned in the completed information packet to be considered as a kidney donor. After the liver transplant, that might be the next step.

Cathy has a birthday on March 19!