If your child is receiving a kidney from a living donor, his or her admission will be scheduled for the day prior to the surgery. If the transplant is from a deceased donor, the admission will occur soon after you have been notified.

Once at the hospital, your child will be evaluated by the staff, and some blood work will be performed. For some patients, dialysis may be required just prior to the transplant surgery.

Your child will then go to the operating room. The transplant surgery takes approximately six hours to complete. During the surgery, a member of the transplant team will keep you informed about the progress of the transplant.

After the surgery, depending on a number of factors, your child will go to one of two locations: the Transplant Unit on 10 South or the intensive care unit (ICU) on 8 South, to be monitored closely.

Your child will continue to be monitored closely and will begin to receive medications to prevent rejection. During this time you will be educated on all aspects of caring for your child at home. This will include information about medications, activity, follow-up, diet, and any other specific instructions from your transplant team.

Typically, the hospital stay is 1 - 2 weeks.