Travel is strictly local for us at the moment – by choice.
When I was placed on the transplant list, I got a nice letter in the mail saying I needed to contact Lahey if I’m out of town and give them a contact number where I can be reached. Or, if it’s too far away, they would skip over me on the transplant list and offer the liver to the next person until I’m back in town.
Their definition of ‘out of town’ is getting to the hospital within 4 to 8 hours. If I had a jet plane on standby, I could technically travel across the country at a moment’s notice. That’s how Steve Jobs could be listed in more than one transplant region. Unfortunately I only know people with hang gliders, sail planes, and small cessnas. Yes, I just harumphed having friends with flying vehicles.
After the ICU visit and being placed on a transplant list, your life starts to revolve around it. You try not to let it, but it does. I’m not willing to fly somewhere and then be hospitalized for something. I also don’t think I could deal with missing the phone call no matter how unlikely it might be. Instead, Logan and I will be travelling and vacationing local – within 4-8 hours of Boston. That includes 7 states: New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Not Buffalo, NY but maybe Brooklyn (and I’d pay for parking). Not camping and hiking in Baxter State Park, but Portland, ME is a-ok. Hiking Mount Washington / Tuckerman? Only if I straightline.
The Derek Janiak Hepatobiliary Forum 