Good morning, @rsp21224 I’ll be quite frank with you…the next week or two will be the worst for your husband. The preconditioning chemo is pretty harsh but it does what it needs to do in wiping the bone marrow clean and ridding the blood of any further cancer cells. This way the new stem cells will be able to engraft in a squeaky clean environment and resume making healthy blood cells.

However, during the next 2 weeks, his blood numbers will continue to drop. In doing so he will be noticeably more fatigued, nauseated, mouth sores, possible gut issues and most likely hair loss. Once the new cells engraft in the marrow, neutrophils, along with red blood cells and platelets will start production and his recovery will begin in earnest.

As the caregiver, I know it’s really hard to watch your husband as he copes with the initial stages of recovery.
My husband said he felt helpless seeing what I was dealing with. To compensate, he tried to do just way too much for me! I appreciated his empathy, however, as much as I love the man, there were days I felt smothered. And I also picked up on his helpless anxiety, which then made me feel guilty or anxious for him! (Not for me, I was just going through the motions of getting through each day, sometimes a minute at a time!)
So we worked it out that if I needed something, I’d ask. That allowed him to go for walks, cook, read, get groceries, etc., to have some moments of normalcy in his life…even though we were living in a hotel suite. We both relaxed more and recovery moved right along.

If I can encourage you to do some daily meditation, breathing exercises for anxiety, take walks, find some little creative outlets which can help you refocus your thoughts for a while, it will really help you relax a little more. You get to be the strong one…for you and your husband’s sake.
The couple of weeks ahead will pass and he’ll begin to gain strength and energy. It will be worth the 2nd chance at life that you’ll both be able to spend enjoying together.

What was your husband’s underlying cause that required this transplant?