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During your stem cell transplant
Stem cell transplants are typically performed in specialized medical centers. These centers generally have transplant units, with a team of specialists caring for you. This team often includes doctors, transplant nurses and coordinators, mental health professionals, occupational therapists, and dietitians.
Stem cell transplantation involves infusing, or injecting, donor stem cells through your central line. This usually takes one to five hours. The transplanted stem cells make their way to your bone marrow cavities, where they begin creating new bone marrow and stem cells. It can take several weeks, though, for your blood counts to begin recovering.
If you receive bone marrow or blood stem cells that have been thawed, you may notice an odor in your room for a day or two after the transplant. This is caused by the substance used to preserve the cells.
Just before the transplant, you may receive medications to reduce the side effects the preservative can cause. These side effects include:
- Nausea
- Fever
- Chills
- Hives
Not everyone experiences side effects from the preservative, and for some people those side effects are minimal.
After your stem cell transplant
After your stem cell transplant, you may stay in the hospital until your blood counts recover or you may return home but remain under close medical care. Some people who have inpatient transplants are able to leave the hospital within three to five weeks, but others may face much longer hospitalizations. Some transplant facilities require transplant recipients to remain nearby for 100 days to allow close monitoring.
In the days and weeks after your stem cell transplant, you may have many of the same kinds of tests and procedures to monitor your condition that you had before the transplant. You may also need supplemental nutrition to compensate for nausea and diarrhea.
To combat various complications, you may need to take numerous medications. You may also need periodic transfusions of red blood cells and platelets until your bone marrow begins producing enough of those cells on its own.
