I have been on the list for a few years, I got the news that I am active and ready to go in Nov. '06. I’ve heard a lot about a Hosp. in Wisconsin, I am wondering if I should go there. I know someone that only waited 3 months on that list, and I have heard of others going there. I am wodering about going there because I understand that they do a lot of them, where as here they don’t. I’d appreciate any feedback. We have one of the top hospitals here. I have been on PD since Aug. '06.
You can find information about different transplant programs on http://www.ustransplant.org.
- Click on “Program Specific Reports” (orange band at the top)
- Click on “Center and OPO Reports”
- Click on a state
- Click on the type of transplant (Kidney-Pancreas transplants) to get a list of programs that perform that type of transplant
- Click on a specific transplant facility to read its center-specific report
For example, the University of Wisconsin:
- performed 48 kidney-pancreas transplants from 7/1/05-6/30/06 (average per center nationally is 3 to 9)
- 50% received K-P transplanst in 5 months (nationally it takes 15.2 months to have 50% of patients transplanted with K-P
- At 6 months, 65.9% of UW’s patients had received a K-P transplant compared with 30% at other programs
- At 1 year 70.6% had received a K-P transplant compared with 34.3% at other programs
- 99.24% of UW’s patients were alive at 1 year post-transplant compared with 96.11% at other centers (this is not significantly different)
Contact the program you’re interested in to see if you live close enough to list at their program. People can list at more than one transplant program. Be sure that your insurance will pay at any program that you’re considering.