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How do I get on multiple transplant lists for a liver?

Posted by Bob Butler @bobbutler, Jan 12, 2015

I have been added to the transplant list for a liver at Yale new haven. I understand I can get on other list in other parts of the country. How do I go about this?

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Lauren Spiceland | @LaurenSpiceland | Jan 19, 2016

Hey Bob, here are a couple links that explain organ allocation and multiple listing really well: https://www.unos.org/wp-content/uploads/unos/Multiple_Listing.pdf and https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/learn/about-transplantation/how-organ-allocation-works/.

You can view the average waiting times for different regions here: https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/converge/latestData/stateData.asp?type=region. The average preservation time for a liver is 8-12 hours, so that could make it difficult to receive a liver from a transplant center that is a great distance from your home.

To be added to the list at another transplant center, you have to be evaluated there just like you were at Yale. If you’re interested in being evaluated for transplant at any of our Mayo Clinic campuses (in Minnesota, Florida or Arizona), please contact us: http://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/transplant-center/appointments-referrals.

Best of luck and please let us know if we can be of any help to you!

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jeanne5009 | @jeanne5009 | Jul 13, 2018

@colleenyoung
Yes I thought I read that. I will check back with them.

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JK | @contentandwell | Jul 14, 2018

@bobbutler I do not see the SRTR.org site mentioned above, but that is a good start to see where the different transplant centers are, and how well they perform, and how long their wait is, generally.
I spoke to two different transplant centers in addition to my closest one, in Boston. I spoke to Mayo in MN and I believe they said they would take many of my tests from MGH in Boston, but would want to do some themselves. If a liver had not come along for me when it did, I was just about to go the Mayo route, but of course it is always more convenient to be closer to home when possible. Mayo told me I would probably get a transplant at about MELD 28 with my B blood type. MGH was saying low 30s. I did get my transplant at MGH though at 28!
If I had gone with Mayo, once my MELD reached a certain point I would have had to have been closer so I could get there quickly.
So many of us on this site have "been there" so if you have questions, fire away.
JK

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