Actual transplant question????

Hello,

My sister had her cytoxan chemo on the 16th...thankfully she did not get sick at all!  However, about 9 days after chemo she did get a slight fever as was hospitalized as a precaution.  She is going to begin cell collection tomorrow and they anticipate her being hospitalized to receive  cells on October 12th. 

I am just wondering how sick she will become during actual transplant?? What is the worst effect she will encounter??  I know everyone is different but would like to know your experiences....   An aquaintance of the family  who has MM said the transplant was as if they bring you to almost death and back again.  I am afraid for her!!

 Thanks and God Bless.

Danielle

 

 

Every person is different, but my wife was quite ill for about 1 month following her SCT. It is called a "recovery" procedure, but don't let that scare you. Like any major medical procedure it has its risks, but it is also a time tested procedure.

Best regards,

Craig

As Craig said, it's different for each and every other patient. But most patients do feel very sick during the chemo phase, and very faint after the actual transplant. There's just no telling in advance. Just take it as it comes... Good luck on the harvesting, hope your sister gets loads of stamcells ! Are you going with her ? It's actually quite an interesting experience. It's best if she has a central line for IV, then she has free use of her arms during the procedure.

Craig...

Thanks for the reply. I guess we will just take it day by day and hope for the best!

Thanks Marlene,

Yes she does have a central line and it does make a huge difference if your arms are free...you don't feel as confined!  Although they told her she will have to be very still during the collection.  She is actually still in hospital so they are bringing machine to her room and collecting from there. 

They told her it may take 1 to 3 days to collect enough cells.  Is it possible to collect all in 1 day though??

Thanks again.

Danielle

I had mine done in one day and they took enough for 3 transplants which I'm being told is quite a bit.  The procedure itself doesn't hurt and the being still is mainly staying in bed while it's happening.  Kind of a cool machine actually.  I took pictures (or had my family take pictures) and put them up on my website.  Like everyone else here says all reactions are different (some of my hospital buddies had different reactions than I did).  I had more issues during the part where they put the stem cells back then when I had them harvested.  I will say though that after I got released from the hospital I was back to work in a week (half days).  One of the biggest things that mattered to me was a support system and with a sister like you I know she's in good hands!

Carlos

Good Evening Danielle;

They told her it may take 1 to 3 days to collect enough cells.  Is it possible to collect all in 1 day though?

Everyone is different. I had enough collected for 3 future transplants in approx. 3 hours. Hardest part about the collection procedure is resisting the urge to itch your nose.

Ask for the cream to rub on her arms an hour or so prior to the harvest to numb the area for the needles.

Take care;

Kevin

That won't be necessary since she has a central line. The only nuisance TJ experienced during the harvest was the tingly feeling in his face, feet and arms, due to the calcium being extracted from his blood. They gave him extra calcium through IV. It subsided after a few hours. I believe positive thinking helps to harvest as many stamcells as possible :-) 3 days will be more than sufficiant to collect enough. Good luck !

I am five weeks post transplant.  I am a 45 year old male who, aside from having MM, is in good health.  I have IgD non-secreting.  Here is my experience.

 I was in the clinic for a total of 12 days.  (The hospital keeps many transplant patients in an apartment with a caregiver rather than admitting them to the hospital.)  The melphalen injection took about an hour.  I chewed on ice the whole time and had no trouble with mouth sores in the subsequent weeks.  I also used the rinse they gave me at least four times a day even though it tasted like marsh water.  The next day I received my stem cells.

 The worst side effect I felt was fatigue.  I slept a whole lot.  I also experienced a weird sense of smell and taste.  I went home on day plus 10 because the stem cells started to graft.  However, I was extremely tired the first week.  I took naps every day.  On the third week after I was discharged I returned to work, although I was probably at 3/4 strength.  Now, at five weeks post-transplant, I sleep a normal amount (seven to eight hours) two out of three nights.  I find that on the third night I need about 10 hours of sleep. 

 I will be restaged later this month.  I may have another stem cell transplant in January.  I do not know if it will be an auto or an allo.