I would estimate the time I spent for my living kidney donation to be much bigger than 52 hours as well. A lot of that is because I spent significant time ensuring that I was as protected as possible. Also because my donation was interrupted by COVID.
First I would count my time in research to determine which hospital I wanted to go through as well as all my travel time to visit that hospital because it was out of state (my state has zero NKR affiliated hospitals and only did 6 living donor transplants last year—am I going to trust them to do mine? NO!)
Next, I went through the process, was approved, then COVID hit. Enough time went by that I had to do the entire evaluation process over again. Each evaluation process easily took AT LEAST 52 hours for me because each time involved a two-day testing process plus travel plus additional local tests.
Then time was wasted when my coordinator got COVID and couldn’t put my case up for approval. Last minute extra tests—partially BECAUSE OF COVID—added to the time I spent doing this.
Lastly, I spent extra time nearby the hospital after surgery in order to obey their recommendations that I stay local in case complications arise but also I did this to kickstart my recovery by eliminating my normal life responsibilities. It worked beautifully and I am recovering very well. But I know that if I hadn’t taken that time off it likely would have impeded my recovery.
I would estimate the time I spent for my living kidney donation to be much bigger than 52 hours as well. A lot of that is because I spent significant time ensuring that I was as protected as possible. Also because my donation was interrupted by COVID.
First I would count my time in research to determine which hospital I wanted to go through as well as all my travel time to visit that hospital because it was out of state (my state has zero NKR affiliated hospitals and only did 6 living donor transplants last year—am I going to trust them to do mine? NO!)
Next, I went through the process, was approved, then COVID hit. Enough time went by that I had to do the entire evaluation process over again. Each evaluation process easily took AT LEAST 52 hours for me because each time involved a two-day testing process plus travel plus additional local tests.
Then time was wasted when my coordinator got COVID and couldn’t put my case up for approval. Last minute extra tests—partially BECAUSE OF COVID—added to the time I spent doing this.
Lastly, I spent extra time nearby the hospital after surgery in order to obey their recommendations that I stay local in case complications arise but also I did this to kickstart my recovery by eliminating my normal life responsibilities. It worked beautifully and I am recovering very well. But I know that if I hadn’t taken that time off it likely would have impeded my recovery.