Angie & Jim

Transplant Coordinatorsby Angie

Transplant – especially a dual-organ transplant – requires coordination between over a dozen different specialists and departments. Good programs have coordinators that work with the patient to keep the whole process on track. Last week I had a long chat with Claire, my Cardiac Transplant Coordinator. We talked through what I can expect appointments-wise over the next few months. She referred me to Jess, the Cardiac Transplant Scheduler, to actually get everything on the books.

Today I had a delightful conversation with Heather, my designated Transplant Coordinator with Cigna, my health insurance. Honestly, I’ve been putting off returning her calls for almost two weeks because my past experience with insurance-assigned health coordinators, nurses, and advocates has been quite disappointing: I consistently know more than they do about my health issues, but they just plow through their set scripts anyway. I thought this would be one more unhelpful person trying to be helpful. I’m happy I was wrong. Heather called to talk me through my insurance coverage for this huge undertaking, and how it will evolve through the four “zones” of transplant: Evaluation (where I am now), on the list, in the hospital, and post-discharge recovery (Cigna has fancier names for them, but that’s the gist). She also talked through some of the resources and support programs that Cigna can offer if we struggle to meet the financial demands of transplant at any point along the road. In addition to lots of good information, she also asked very sensible questions and listened to my answers – so refreshing!