ugh - considering i'm awake from a combo of too many steroids and pure adreniline (plus a whacked out sleep schedule) from a dry run, i feel qualified to answer this:
i've had 5 -- two were just calls and i never made it in to the hospital. two were typical dry runs with full prep (although once there was a problem with pharmacy and i got no prograf for some reason). yesterday was flat out bordering on absurd and should not be used as any sort of indicator of other people's experience.
i typically have received a lot of steroids and a dose of prograf. i also get a LOT of antibiotics and an anti-fungal pre-op. i wasn't told to avoid crowds or be careful when i was sent home, but one of the questions they ask during pre-op is whether you have had any exposure to sick people within 3-4 days, in part to avoid the chance of sending you into surgery with a dormant virus (i think), so now that i am getting lots of dry runs and i know i am top of the list, i'm not going out of my way to expose myself to large quantities of people anyway. i go the gym, i walk outside when weather permits, and i go to normal public places like stores or restaurants. i probably wouldn't go to a crowded concert or a baseball game right about now if i had the option though...unless it were some sort of special occasion.
dry runs are hard. really hard. even the ones that were "just calls" were emotionally exhausting for me, though in retrospect they are definitely the "best" kind of dry run. i think i can say pretty authoritatively by now that dry runs aren't worth it as "practice" -- i think going into this process i thought a dry run would help prepare me somehow, but they are 1) exhausting for you and your support team, 2) they hurt b/c you are poked and prodded unnecessarily, and 3) they set you back quite a bit in terms of exercise/activity by keeping you up for long hours typically in the middle of the night. i know right now i am hoping for at least a few days to get my strength back. i could barely walk when i left the ICU this morning honestly, and i consider myself in great shape and a hardcore exerciser. if i was like that after a dinky little 2 hour anesthesia session, i can only imagine what transplant recovery must do to your strength. so to me, right now, it's not about HOW MANY dry runs you might have, but how much you can force yourself to really get back in the saddle right after they occur and keep your spirits and body in good condition. and, like i mentioned, it is hard.