The Wait

One of the hardest things you may face is the wait period, before you receive your donor liver.  This is a period in which you can prepare yourself for the operation and recovery, with some tips from people who have already been through the procedure.

• Read Mary's moving story of what waiting was like for their family. 

Preparing for the Department of Critical Care Medicine

Once the liver transplant has taken place, you will be in the Department of Critical Care Medicine [DCCM] at Auckland Hospital.  It may be frustrating for you at first, to find that with a tube down your throat, you can't talk to your friends and family or the doctors and nurses.  

Here is a tip.  Before you go into hospital, prepare an A5 sized piece of paper (double-sided) with contact peoples' names and phone numbers on one side, and on the other key sentences which you may wish to "say" by pointing.  Laminate this if possible, to keep it sturdy.  If you hole-punch a hole in a corner and put a safety-pin through the hole, you should be able to have this pinned to you in DCCM when you wake up.  Ask your caregiver to do this once you are out of theatre.

There is a template (designed by a transplant recipient) that you can view and print.  It is a .pdf file requiring the Adobe Acrobat reader.  Please click here to view.  There is no copyright on this so use it however it best suits you!