HarleyNightrain,
With my first transplant, I received my Stem cells on 8 Feb 08 and begain grafting on 18 Feb. I had some bad stomach cramps and a staph infection. Aside from that, it wasn't as bad as I had expected. I spent the majority of the time outpatient....that's the way the Huntsman does it.
I received my second transplant of Stem Cells 9 May 08 and I'm currently waiting for grafting. Again, I'm outpatient. This time around my stomach has been a bit more weak, but nothing too crazy...just take the pills.
The induction chemo has a lot to do with how sick you may or may not get as well. My first transplant was melphaln+velcade. Second transplant BCNU, Gemzar, Melphalan, and velcade.
Your caregivers have your six and you'll be fine. As for getting back to normal, with my first transplant, I took Feb and Mar to recover and began hitting the mountain trails and roads 1 Apr for roughly 4-7 mile walks.
Try to walk during the transplant process...we went for 50mins today. It will speedup your recovery time and make you and your caregivers feel better.
Good luck to you...and me since I'm only a week into number two ;-)
Peace
Doug