Is It Appropriate...?

Hi @rgb3547 Absolutely, it’s entirely appropriate to send a greeting to your transplant care team via portal or by snail mail. I send an annual letter of gratitude and a hand painted card every year to my transplant doctor and team. He makes mention of it anytime I come in for a followup. I think it’s really a positive message we can send to them of what they mean to us! They were instrumental in giving us a second chance at life (of course, along with our donors). In fact, this year I sent a family photo with my card. I thought my doctor would get a kick out of seeing life on the other side of transplant and what it means to me and my family to still be able to be together another year.

Our teams work tirelessly and graciously with us to make sure we’re receiving the best possible care, that we remain healthy and are able to enjoy life because of them.
Our notes of thanks help validate what our teams do for us and why they do what they do! They keep families together!

Happy New Year! What type of transplant did you receive?

Thank you @loribmt. I really appreciate your prompt response. A very Happy New Year to you & your family. I am a recipient of a liver from a deceased individual.
I am eternally grateful to him/her & his/her family who are with us today. I wish the same to them too.

A transplant is a gift like no other. I’m so happy to hear that you’re doing well with your transplanted liver. Just like of us who have received transplants I bet there’s a memorable photo or two you have that wouldn’t be possible had you not gotten the transplant. If you’d like to share your photo with us, here’s a link:

Snapshots of life! https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/snapshots-of-hope-life-on-the-other-side-of-transplant/

And…a link to our Liver Support group where you can connect with other members who have had a transplant. https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/liver-support-group/

How long ago was your transplant?

Hi all, 😊
I would like to get your opinion. Regarding the patient portal protocol...after you send a question and receive the answer back, do you respond again with another "thank you" message? In the beginning, I used to respond with a thank you message all the time, until I became educated regarding the quantity of daily portal messages coming through to the nurse coordinators and doctors. They can see on the system that I read and received their response so I decided to not add to their workload by creating another reply message for them to open. I don't know what is the correct protocol. Of course I am super thankful for their responses, but am I adding to their workload with one more message to open and read? They receive a sea of messages each day. I don't know whether the kinder thing is to reply thank you or the nicer thing is to not give them another message. What do you do?

Thanks for the links. I am not a Mayo patient. My transplant took place nearly a year ago at the Emory University Hospital in Atlanta which is 3 states away from my home. It was a truly wonderful treatment & care I received there.

You sure don’t need to be a Mayo patient to share your story and post a Life After Transplant photo! You just joined a huge new family. 🥰

Hi!
I would think so. I sent an email to our doctor about a health problem that my husband was having on Christmas Eve. In closing, I wished him a Merry Christmas. He wrote back with some advice and also in closing wished us a Merry Christmas. I'm sure your team would appreciate a short Christmas message; especially if they are at the Mayo Clinic! From what I've read, the Mayo Clinic is a lot more religious than most hospitals. At least, the ones in Washington State anyway!
Good Luck!
PML

@hello1234 I used to say thank you to my team like you did (I am from the south where manners are important!) and finally my Boston transplant nurse practitioner said “what’s with the extraneous thank yous? We don’t have time for all of your thank yous!” Cultural divide. But I understand that they receive so many messages- increasingly I think related to COVID. I sent a snail mail note of gratitude in my one year anniversary date and will continue to do that. During my first ever visit to my team in Boston, I noted a gigantic wall with cards and pictures I assumed were gratitude cards which must make the team’s life especially rewarding.

Good morning @katebw 😊
Thank you for letting me know that your experience and decision is the same as mine. I think the quantity of daily questions they are fielding is tremendous. They are tending to questions and lab result reviews each day from the "just transplanted!" all the way to 20 and 30 years post transplant. That's a lot of patients' labs and questions. I really like your idea "snail mail" note of gratitude each year!

@hello1234 - great questions about the online messaging. You are correct when you say the doctors and nurses are very busy with the 1000s of online messages they receive weekly. When I message my care team, I close with "Thank you for your future response." or something similar to that. That way, they know I am thankful, but don't need to open another message a day or two later to see that I am. They know that patients are thankful for the care they receive, and they would likely be happy not to have to open another message.