[squirrellypoo]

My experience probably won't be very helpful for you since the UK's leading specialists and researchers in AA and MDS (Prof Marsh and Mufti) were at King's, which is right around the corner from where I live. And Kings do more transplants than anywhere else in the UK (and one of the top centres of the world) so I didn't even consider going anywhere else. It was really, really nice being so close to family and friends, as it meant lots of people could just pop in to keep me company without having to stay in a hotel.

Being nearby also meant that I could live at home for a long portion of my post-transplant time - at one point I was ONLY released from hospital because I promised to come in to outpatients every single day (M-F) for an IV drip, which ended up carrying on for a full six months. So as hard as the daily commute was (my fiance had to drive me in since you can't use public transport), it was lightyears better than being in a ward for that time.

So if you need to have your transplant far away from your home, realise that you'll need somewhere to stay in the area for several months after the transplant itself, whether that's with friends or at an extended stay hotel. My 6 months of daily appointments was a bit unusual, but it's nothing to go in 3 times a week for 2-3 months post-transplant.