Hi Patty, actually having an outpatient experience with a SCT can be very positive. I had an Allogenic (using unrelated donor cells) transplant at Mayo-Rochester. There, all bone marrow transplants are basically outpatient. Statistics show recovery time can be aided by being in a ‘home’ environment. It’s safer than a hospital setting by reducing the possibilities for infection.
Patients move around more getting their own food from the fridge, they’re using their own bathrooms, sleeping in their own bed. Much better than when confined to a room or bed in a hospital.
Patients generally report to the clinic daily for blood work so it’s not as though you get the transplant and are pushed ‘out of the nest. If there are any complications then the patient gets admitted to the hospital again, asap.
Your husband, with his MM will most likely have a autogenic transplant using his own cells. That is of a much easier, faster recovery time simply because he is using his own cells…there’s no chance for rejection and graft vs host issues.
Do you have any specific questions I can help you with?

Actually my husband had both auto stem cell transplants at Mayo, and they were outpatient. We stayed in long term housing and he came home and went back to the clinic every day for infusions.
He did spend 5 days in the hospital with his first at about day post 10. Because he just needed all of his medicines IV. This is pretty predictable for them since they do about 250 a year on that floor. The second one was a little harder and he went in to the hospital a little earlier, and stayed a little longer.
We didn’t feel totally on our own, we could call the floor day or night and get help or answers. They also sent me as the caregiver through classes to learn a ton of information and feel pretty confident before we started.
When is he supposed to start? Are you planning to stay close or do you live close to UCD?