Kidney Transplant Resources

From your first visit through post-surgery follow-up care, we’ll educate you about the transplant process every step of the way. In addition to sharing information in-person, we’ll give you a printed booklet to take home.

Our monthly organ transplantation support group is a place for patients and their families to share questions and concerns and get firsthand feedback from people who have been through a similar experience.

Memorial’s knowledgeable transplant social workers help families gather information and resources as they navigate transplant-related issues.

To speak with one of our compassionate transplant social workers, call 954-265-7450.

We provide a range of interpreter services for patients and families who do not speak English or are more comfortable speaking in another language. Your transplant coordinator can help you coordinate interpreter services.

Our dedicated transplant team helps match patients with suitable living donors, supporting everyone involved in the kidney donation process. We help patients and donors:

• Understand the kidney donation process
• Talk about kidney donation with friends and loved ones
• Find financial resources to defray living donor-related travel costs
• Answer questions related to health insurance coverage

Learn more about living kidney donation.

In addition to the support services we provide to adult patients, we offer custom support services for children in need of a kidney transplant and their families. Learn more about our family-centered pediatric kidney transplant care offered in collaboration with Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital.

Children and families benefit from our:

• Child life specialists: Child life specialists use play, pets and music to connect with children and help minimize the psychological impact of a serious medical condition or hospital stay. 
• Emotional support: Our pediatric social workers help children and families handle emotional challenges and other issues related to undergoing a kidney transplant.
• Tutoring: A teacher from Broward County Public Schools is available to help children work around extended school absences.
• Child-friendly environment: Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital is designed with the needs of children in mind. Our interactive play area has toys and other activities to help keep young patients entertained. There’s also an outdoor playground, and if children get hungry, we offer a healthy, kid-friendly menu.

If you believe your child may benefit from a kidney transplant, we want to hear from you. You can learn more about our personalized pediatric kidney transplant care by calling us anytime at 954-265-7450.

Almost anyone in good health can donate a kidney. In many cases, you can donate a kidney to someone of a different race, sex or blood type, thanks to recent advances in donor matching.

At Memorial Transplant Institute, our thorough donor evaluation process makes sure a donor is in sufficient physical and mental shape to safely donate a kidney.

Many times, people in need of a kidney transplant don't know how to talk to friends and family members about donating a kidney. Our transplant coordinators can help you come up with ways to broach the topic of kidney donation in a way that feels right to you.

Learn more about kidney donation.

We add eligible patients to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) kidney transplant list, which matches organs from deceased donors with individuals based on the severity of their condition. Because there are more people in need of a kidney than available organs, most people wait at least three years for a deceased donor kidney transplant.

In kidney transplant surgery, a surgeon places a healthy kidney (from a living or deceased donor) inside the patient's body. In most cases, a surgeon will leave the failing kidneys in your body. The donor kidney takes over a failing kidney's functions, allowing the recipient the opportunity to live a longer, fuller life.

You can expect to stay in the hospital for at least four days after kidney transplant surgery. Our entire care team will visit you before you go home, at which time they'll review everything you need to know as you embark on your new life after transplant.

Learn more about what to expect from kidney transplant surgery.

Your kidney transplant recovery time will depend on many factors, but you might find yourself enjoying a more active lifestyle as soon as one or two months after transplant surgery. Many people feel a sense of normalcy by three months after the surgery.

Read about what to expect during kidney transplant recovery.

Some people who experience organ rejection after a kidney transplant show no outward symptoms. We monitor patients closely after kidney transplant surgery. We will see you often so that we can evaluate you for early signs of organ rejection.

Common signs of kidney transplant rejection include:

• Low-grade fever
• Feeling extremely tired
• Poor appetite
• Flu like symptoms, such as nausea or body aches
• Swelling of the hands, face or feet
• Pain in the abdominal area