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Transplant Evaluation - What to expect

Transplants | Last Active: Nov 28, 2020 | Replies (306)

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@bamagirlgina

@jodeej - Thanks for the information. Hopefully we will not have to stay the entire 3 weeks. I did contact Gabriel House today and right now the have availability...hopefully they will still tomorrow once I call about the appt. Trying to get an appt date at Mayo and Gabriel House in tandum is tricky. We considered taking our travel trailer over but the closest campground was at least 30 minutes drive away. Since Gabriel House has shuttle service that would be one less stressor to have to worry about (not to mention dragging the camper over, setting it up, etc.) Fingers crossed Mayo still has April 11 open when I call in the morning and that after that Gabriel House still has availability.

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Replies to "@jodeej - Thanks for the information. Hopefully we will not have to stay the entire 3..."

This is very helpful news..I scheduled an appt. May 21. Where did you end up staying?

Your caregiver is required to be at the psychiatry appt and (I think) the social worker appt. It will tell you on the details of your schedule which ones they are required to attend. We stayed at the Extended Stay on Beach Blvd but cannot recommend it. Yes, it was cheap (a little over $400 for a week but then $60 a day for days less than a week. You do not get daily room service, just once a week, only 1 roll of toilet paper (or buy a roll for $1) Some people live here. Our room smelled like pets (they do allow them), our stove did not work (one of the reason we stayed there). It is only about 10-15 minutes from Mayo tho. We have additional appointments twice more this month and I have made reservations at Holiday Inn Jax Beach on Beach Blvd, about the same distance from Mayo. Our rate per nite there is $116.00, much more than where we are now, but well worth it. That rate is the Mayo patient rate according to the person I talked to at the reservations number. We've tried to get booked at the Gabriel House but no luck.

@bamagirlgina I'm trying to work around the primary school summer schedule but now I realize that may not be possible. It is time to realistically consider alternate arrangements. Thanks again for sharing.

@jodeej I understand your post refers to Rochester but do you know if the same applies to Mayo Jax?

@bamagirlgina What a wonderful post. You express such a positive picture that it makes me feel like the pressures of scheduling, lodging & travel are mere ripples in a beautiful life transforming journey. I'm so thankful for your candid thoughts on the challenging aspects as well.

@rosemarya You are so right that our journeys serve as a testimony to give strength & inspiration to others like me who have no ulterior motive what so ever. Thank you for your thoughts.

@beckyjohnson I could be reading this the wrong way so correct me if I am.
If you are thinking you may not have time to donate over the summer while looking at the posts that say evaluations take up to 3 weeks and a caregiver needs to be present for some of the evaluation, don't lose hope. These are the recipients experiences.
For me, as a donor, my evaluation took 2 full days (outpatient) but they asked that I stay an additional day just in case they needed more info. I didn't need a caregiver with me. After that, it took about a week for my results to be presented to and approved by the donor board and about an hour to get a call back to schedule the surgery. This was right before Christmas so we opted to wait 3 weeks but could have gotten in the next week. I was in the hospital overnight, stayed in town for week (did not want to sit on a plane for 5 hours right away!) and back to a full schedule with no limitations after a month from the surgery date.
Sorry about the thread jacking!

@jeanne5009 I too had planned on having my daughter as a caregiver. I also thought I would handle all the testing that didn't require anesthesia on my own then enlist her aid for the major event of transplant & aftercare. Is this not possible @rosemarya?

@beckyjohnson no I don't, but I would assume that all the Mayo's are similar.

@mauraacro Thank you for that. Your understanding was absolutely correct. What a relief to understand the difference. By all means thread jack my posts anytime. I clearly needed the reality check to keep my hopes high