Pancreas transplant

Preparation

Once you're assessed as being suitable for a pancreas transplant, you have to join the national waiting list. It's not possible to have one straight away because of the lack of available pancreases.

It may be several months,or possibly years, before a suitabledonor pancreas becomes available.

In the UK, half ofthe people waiting for a pancreas transplant will have hadone by around 13 months.

You will usually be able to stay at home until a pancreas becomes available.

Thetransplant centre can offer support, guidance and information while you wait for a suitable donor to be found.

They will be fully aware that many peoplefind thisa frustrating and frightening experience.

Waiting for a suitable donor

While waiting for a donatedpancreas to become available, it's important to stay as healthy as possible by:

taking medicationprescribed for you
keeping all your appointments with your healthcare team
having a healthy diet
taking regular exercise, if possible
not smoking
not drinking excessive amounts of alcohol

The transplant centre will need to be able to contact you at short notice, so you should inform staff if your contact details change.

You should alsoletstaffknowif your health changes for example, if you develop an infection.

Prepare an overnight bag and make arrangements with your friends, family and employer so you can go to the transplant centre as soon as a donorpancreas becomes available.

Coping with being on the waiting list

Living with severe diabetes can bestrenuous enoughthe added anxiety of waiting for apancreas to become availablecan make the situation even more difficult.

This can have an effect on both your physical and mental health.

Contact your GP or the transplant centrefor advice if you're struggling to cope emotionally with the demands of waiting for a transplant.

You may also find it useful to contact a support group, such as Diabetes UK or Diabetes.co.uk,ora local kidney patients association if you're also waiting for a kidney transplant.