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← Return to BMT at Mayo Rochester 6/23
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Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) & CAR-T Cell Therapy | Last Active: Jun 23 12:45pm | Replies (8)
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Today I receive the conditioning chemo. Tomorrow rest day and Thurs and Friday stem cells back. I have 28 bags of cells so they will split b/t two days. It took me 8 days to collect 5 mil cells. I was on the struggle bus, lol
Replies to "Today I receive the conditioning chemo. Tomorrow rest day and Thurs and Friday stem cells back...."
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Hey @kaerae76! Thank you for give me a little more info on where you are in your transplant journey. This helped me get a clearer picture.
So you’ve already had your stem cell collection. That’s a huge step out of the way. Sounds like those little buggers were hard fought to get the desired amount. But you persevered and on your way! ☺️
Your conditioning chemo starts today. For MM patients that often is a one-time infusion to help clear your body of any further cancer cells and to help clean out your bone marrow so it’s ready for your newly infused cells in a couple of days.
The cells will drip in just like a blood transfusion over the next two days. As the stem cells enter your blood stream, they tumble along the walls of the veins until they find these unique little pores where the stem cells enter your bone marrow. Once inside, the stem cells will eventually set up housekeeping again. Usually anywhere from 12 to 17 days or so. Some people have engraftment sooner, some take a little longer. But as soon as the stem cells do engraft they will begin to produce more cells which mature into red, white cells and platelets. Your recovery will then move along a little faster and you start feeling a little more perky.
During first week or so after the chemo you may feel some increased fatigue and want to nap all the time. You may experience some nausea as well. But knowing the transplant teams at Mayo, you’ll be provided whatever you need to help keep you comfortable. Make sure you inform your team of any concerns you have. They’re all very attuned to patient’s needs but they aren’t mind readers. So it’s up to us to let them know and it’s never a nuisance to them! ☺️
As an out patient you won’t be spending much time in Methodist hospital on 9-4. Personally, I really appreciated being able to recover in my long-term lodging instead of long term stay as In-patient. But I also learned that I’d be quickly re-admitted to the hospital if needed.
Sending you good wishes for a smooth journey with your stem cells. Keep me posted along the way, ok?