Lung Transplant Team

When you are scheduled for your lung transplant evaluation, you’ll be an assigned a pre-transplant coordinator -- a nurse who is specially trained in lung transplant care. They will be your main point of contact for your entire transplant team. They will help you coordinate appointments, interpret test results, teach you about lung transplantation, introduce you to people who have gone through transplantation, and connect you with helpful resources.

When you are in the hospital for your transplant surgery, you will work with an inpatient transplant coordinator. They will meet with you and your caregiver to discuss details of your care after you leave the hospital. After surgery, a post-transplant coordinator will assist you with pulmonary rehabilitation, medications, education for you and your caregiver, and follow-up appointments.

This individual will locate your medical records, get financial approval for your transplant, and schedule your lung transplant evaluation.

Your financial coordinator will review your insurance to help you understand the costs that are covered under your policy and what you will be expected to pay out-of-pocket. They will work with your insurance company to get prior approval for your transplant surgery before you are listed as a candidate. Your financial coordinator will help you understand your payment options, including resources that might make your tests, surgery, and medications more affordable.

Our transplant pulmonologists are experts in lung disease and transplantation and are important members of your care team. During the evaluation process, they will determine whether a transplant is the best treatment option for you. While you wait for your donor lungs, they will help keep you healthy, and they will provide most of your care after surgery.

Your transplant surgeon is part of the committee that evaluates you for lung transplantation. They will meet with you during the evaluation and before the procedure, assess the health of the donor lungs matched to you, perform the surgery, and provide care after surgery.

Our physical therapists will oversee your pre-transplant and post-transplant pulmonary rehabilitation including muscle and respiratory-muscle conditioning; oxygen and aerosol therapy; breathing retraining; patient and caregiver education programs; smoking cessation counseling; and more. Occupational therapists will work with you in the hospital to help you regain your ability to carry out everyday activities, including self-care, independently.

A mental and emotional health assessment is just as important as your physical health assessment. That’s why you’ll meet with a transplant psychologist during your lung transplant evaluation. After surgery, you’ll have access to psychologists and/or psychiatrists to help you adjust to life after transplant.

A lung transplant social worker will help you manage the stress of lung transplantation on you and your family. They will assess your support network, address financial concerns, discuss your family’s plans for relocating before and after the transplant, and point you to additional resources to help you through the lung transplant process.

Before and after transplantation, you will meet with a transplant dietician to discuss your nutritional needs.

Respiratory therapists assess your oxygen needs for exercising and conducting daily activities. They will ensure you have the proper equipment to remain as active as possible. They will also care for your respiratory needs while attending your exercise sessions and will communicate with your doctors about your progress.

Your speech pathologist will evaluate respiratory muscle and swallowing issues before and after surgery. You may begin pre-transplant swallowing treatment to improve swallowing strength.

These nurses manage all of your medication needs during the transplant process. This includes new prescriptions, refills, insurance authorizations, intravenous medications, and infusions.

Taking daily medications will be an important part of your life after lung transplant. Your transplant pharmacist will teach you and your caregiver about the medicines you will take, medication safety, and potential side effects.