The Best of the Best

UAB and its kidney transplant team is world renowned, and since 1987 they have performed more kidney transplants than any other hospital in the country. Access to UAB and its doctors was one of the factors that we considered when we moved (back for me) to Pell City in 2010. With the knowledge that my kidneys would “one day” give out, we knew that living in the shadow of one of the world’s best transplant hospitals would be a tremendous advantage.

As you can see from the picture above, UAB currently is operating at a nearly 100% success rate. By the averages, 98/100 patients’ kidneys from living donors are still alive and well after one year. I don’t have the data to support it, but it is my impression that for patients like myself that present with PKD and without other co-morbidities have an even higher success rate.

UAB has an established process and proven track record of success. Every interaction that I have had with them thus far has strengthened my belief that I am in the right place for this process.

Recovery from transplant surgery at UAB begins with a four to five day hospital stay followed by one week of living in their “kidney dorm” attached to the hospital. They have a retired campus dormitory for patients and a caregiver to live in during the first few days of recovery. You stay nearby for close monitoring of kidney function and surveying for signs of rejection. Provided that all goes well, you are released to go home about two weeks following the surgery with a strict regimen of check-ups and check-ins to follow.

Those who know me well know that I am fascinated with processes, efficiencies, and how to improve the way that something is done. Watching from afar these last few years, I have developed a great admiration for Coach (Saint?) Nick Saban and his Process down in Tuscaloosa, and with each day I am becoming more enamored with UAB’s transplant process in a much more intimate setting.