Being so ill that my doctor is considering a liver transplant…. to seeing hope for a better future…

Before I can get a liver transplant, they have to assess whether I can physically and psychologically withstand the transplant, and the process is a real marathon! Prior to the implementation of the Liver Transplant Rapid Investigation Clinic (GRIT-F), the evaluation process required several days and several trips over a two-month period and the help of relatives to get me to the hospital. To determine whether I am a candidate for a transplant, I need get a CT scan, an MRI, a colonoscopy and who knows how many other tests! Not to mention the consultations with several medical specialists. Meanwhile, life is passing me by, and I’m scared. I so hope I can get a new liver, otherwise…

Before the GRIT-F was set up, if I had been a patient living far from Montreal, or if I was sick to the point where my days were numbered, I would have been hospitalized for at least 10 days.

It’s the patient who really benefits from the GRIT-F, thanks to the CHUM transplant team who created this more modern approach to the evaluation process. With this new approach, it takes five days, from Monday to Friday, to go through the entire evaluation process as an outpatient. The following Monday, the team contacts us to let us know us whether we are a candidate for a transplant. If so, we are immediately placed on Transplant Québec’s waiting list. Being able to get answers quickly can greatly reduce our anxiety level and allow us to remain hopeful.

Project submitted by Dr. Catherine Vincent, Hepatologist

Other contributors to the project: Angèle Barry, Transplant Surgery Consultant; Julie Bisson, Social Worker; Danielle Desormeaux, Clinical-Administrative Co-Manager – Transplants; Jacinthe Dion, Clinical-Administrative Co-Manager – Medical Services Group; Catherine Dufault, Head of Day Medicine; Samira Elmir, Transplant Unit Head; Fernand Dufort, Patient Partner; Dr. Catherine Girardin, Medical Co-Manager – Transplants; Dr. Geneviève Huard, Hepatologist; Amanda Jean-Gilles, Assistant Director, MSD – Operations; Joann Maxwell, Nutritionist; Nathalie Nadon, Assistant to the Director, DCTAS; Rosanda Polegubic, Nurse, Systematic Liver Transplant Follow-up; Alexandra Roumie-Saintelien, Administrative Officer, Appointment Desk; Stéphanie Salvetat, Coordinator, Transplant Network; Isabelle Tancré, Nurse Clinician; Dr. Catherine Vincent, Hepatologist