My Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT/SCT) story: Will you share yours?

Hi Kat, A few names I’ve heard over the years in recognition of our re-birth days: Transplantaversary, Celliversary, Cellebration day, Celebirthday (like celebrity).
Have any big plans for your big day?

Thank you for this info, Lori. I feel very comfortable with my NP in the BMT department. I am getting the Gyno with a female at COH through the year anniversary tests i must complete. This year celebration has a name in the BMT world, but i need to go online to see the name. I am calling it an anniversary. It does sound interesting the way the primary office is a bit different then the care we have gotten from our BMT departments. The new PA i had was just assigned to this Dr. I realized the primary i had gone to in June of 2021, was my first time at that office. I had the PA there and never met the DR. I suppose i will make a call at some point during this year, but so far i will be getting any scans and blood results in the coming month that will let me know my bodies current condition.
Mr. crabby pants. I remember going to a dermatologist for the 2nd time on the very day i gave up smoking. On that day the whole experience did not sit right. My prior Dr. was wonderful but moved. As i was leaving that day he said to make an appointment for 6 months. I thought for just a minute and thought, heck no. I left and never returned. I found a new Doctor. That day was the "Great American Smoke out" sponsored by the American Cancer Society. 1998- I quit that day and have never smoked again.
We find the Doctor that is right for us.

Good morning, Miss Kat! I seem to recall last year around this time, you were concerned you would miss out on future retreats like the one you attended this weekend!! I love seeing posts like yours that show life can return to normalcy after having a BMT. It just takes time and patience. Your first Re-birthday is right around the corner and you’ve have been an exemplary patient for your BMT team.
Going back into mainstream medicine for routine care was an eye opener to me. As BMT patients we get spoiled with our dedicated devotion with our BMT teams and oncology teams. I’m finding, not so much with my PCP. He gets a bit prickly when he has to defer to requests/orders from my transplant doctor. My local oncologist works really well with my Mayo team…no issues there at all. But my PCP is another story.
Until about year 3 post-transplant, my local oncologist was my primary care physician but I was still having 3 month followups at Mayo. So basically anything I needed was done through Mayo. When I finally went to the primary care clinic where my family has gone for years, I had a new doctor, to me. I introduced myself and let him know I had a BMT and explained that he would be part of my care team. My ‘boots on the ground’ locally but that he may have to defer to my transplant doctor from time to time. I asked if he’d be ok with that. I realize this puts him in an awkward position of not necessarily being ‘primary’. But our primary doctors need to be team players. So when my transplant doctor put in a direct order for a medication that my primary doctor didn’t want me to take, my primary got prickly with me.
We had a long face to face talk and hoped we reached a truce after he said he now understood better why I was given the medication and he’d work together in the future.
Well, that was last April. Since then I’ve had 2 occasions where I’ve contacted that office for assistance and there was no response at the time until about 2 weeks later. That wasn’t helpful! 😅 I ended up both times calling my BMT NP and got immediate help.
I have annual PCP visit coming up in a couple weeks. I’ll see how this appt goes. If he’s still going to all Dr Crabby Pants, then I’ll opt for another clinician in the office.

It is comforting to know our BMT teams, in most clinics, are dedicated partners for life. We are forever changed with a BMT but we can have full and much appreciated 2nd lives ahead of us. We just need some special TLC from time to time.
I’m so happy for you, Kat, that this year has been such a success story. Wishing you continued wellness!

Hi all, I have been out and about at a retreat this weekend i attend yearly.
I had my check in a week ago and the Dr. said it was time to set up the yearly follow-ups. Pulmonary, Chest CT Scan, Pap Smear, echo, more blood panels not usually done and a couple more. Most to be done April 4th.
I had my breast ultrasound and no findings after my Feb 2022 tumor removal so that was a beautiful Friday March 14t morning result as i then headed to our local mountains for my weekend. Putting on chains and snow that made that drive more fun.
Since my transplant, that was my first trip out with 160 people for 2 days since April 9th, 2024. Wow.
My blood numbers were still very good although i did not drink enough water this last weekend so back to my usual once i got home Sunday. I want to add something. For my breast cancer follow-up i had a brand-new PA. The Dr was new to me 6 months ago. I realized this weekend I am going to have my yearly follow-ups with my prior MO who moved to the hospital my breast surgeon is at. This new PA was very kind and very knowledgeable, but she knew nothing about me. She had no idea i am at the 1-year follow-up with no active treatment necessary. She did not know until i said it that a bone marrow transplant is what i am being treated for now. Soon to move from active treatment to possibly 3 or so months apart for visits. My BMB is on April 4th too. My scheduler got my day filled so i only have one day for most tests.
What i did hear the PA say that was right on was that i need to go back to routine with my primary care physician. I only had gone there twice after i found my breast mass and was referred to COH. She said COH is a treatment hospital. For a cold and other care not part of my BMT care does not require the specialized care. That made perfect sense. AS my next breast ultrasound is not for another year, i have plenty of time to make the Physican connection and make contact with my prior Medical Oncologist who treated me through my 1st cancer.
I am a bone marrow transplant patient for life. That treatment will never change. COH i will stay.

Hey Kat!! You’ll be a great asset to the COH community with your positive experience with your transplant. It’s all about paying it forward…! Just think, last year at this time you were still trying to get things wrangled into place to be able to go forward with the transplant and now you’re in the position to be a lifeline for others. I feel like a proud momma bear. 😅 You were a rock star from the beginning.

Curious to see if you’ve ever considered a seeing a massage therapist with your stiff pec muscles. I felt the final piece in my healing post chemo for AML and the transplant was a visit to my massage therapist. I’d had a froze shoulder that miraculously disappeared along with other lingering ‘toxic feelings’ over that 2 year period post transplant. Having that massage, lymph drainage was a game changer for me. Just a thought… In fact, I saw her today after a 4 month absence. Right now I feel like a bowl of comfortable mush. 😂
We just returned from FL back to Wisconsin with a great weather window for the 3 day road trip. No issues! Now I’m scrambling to get caught up on missing Connect for several days. I also missed blood work for the past couple of months so I’d better get that appointment set up! Happy to see you’re continuing to do Fab-U-lous Dahling!! 🥰

Hi all,
I have been reading many posts and am grateful again for this forum. Last week I joined the City of Hope portal they just established for bone marrow patients, past and present. I will log in there a few times a week.
Here i know the community shares to learn and to get information. How else would i have watched the minions for one hour as i received the melphalan and needed frozen popsicles and ice in my mouth to prevent mouth sores. Keep my mind on something else. That is how Lori came into my floor 6 room to help me walk through a procedure. I did not end up with any mouth sores. Nothing.
My 1 -year BMB is in early April. On May 2nd, City of Hope has their annual Bone Marrow Transplant Reunion. This year i get to attend!!! March 7th another blood test to see if my CMV blood number is stable along with all the other counts.

I continue to drink my water, eat good food daily, some chocolate yes, and walk and walk. Sleep i get about 6-7 hours daily. I do feel rested. I went to my 6 month follow up for my breast cancer Doctor, and she said everything looks great. I am very tight in my left pectoral muscle though and if i want to see a PT she can schedule it. I told her i will work on it. I know that was my 1st side for surgery and i have had other stiff type effects i have worked through. I started stretches a neighbor suggested. I have checked u-tube too.
Thank you all for sharing your journey and all it entails.

Welcome to the group, @millicentw. I read in another discussion that you had a BMT for multiple myeloma. Congrats on being in remission for 7 years!

What tip would you offer someone who is about to have BMT for multiple myeloma? In other words, what do you wish you had known?

Hi all!
I had my follow-up yesterday at our brand-new building at City of Hope Duarte. Easy to read listing of floor1-8 on the wall. I did not realize the blood/VAD was just to the left of the wall info. I got on the elevator. I thought we were on the lower level. Funny though, A COH person taking someone up to a floor said there are not blood services in this building. I said really? I have an appointment in the HOPE building today in blood/infusion services. I went back to floor one and found another worker who said to go right at the wall sign.
That department now has dozens and dozens or rooms and beds for blood services and infusions. In the past we traveled to many floors to get to a bed for our infusions. Sometimes the blood donation building right by this new building.
Not a very nice attitude of my blood draw nurse today. Not personable as many are. We were done
quick and i got outside to join a zoom meeting for a while.
Next, I was up on floor 4 for Hematology. I got in and was seen within 10 minutes. But, just before going in i got my numbers. My freaking creatinine number was 120!!! I have never been that high. I immediately thought Mepron. The Dr. is going to make me take that. My vitals for my heart rate were at 129 upon arrival in my wait room. I could feel my heart beating fast. Another nurse came in to take it again and it dropped to 118. She asked me if i had heart problems, Afib or anything. I do not know her and no i said nothing like that. I said i just had a high result on a blood number and it freaked me out. This is why my body was reacting. My NP Hannah came in soon. She said i was going to get hydration on Floor 8 once our visit was done. 120 was not high enough to switch meds. From then though we laughed and laughed. She asked me if i go hatless. She loves how i look with short hair. I told her i will but for now it is too cold. But at this point all my other numbers were good and my 1 yr BMB is April 7th. Crazy. As we wrapped up the Dr. poked his head in. There was so much noise in this room he thought something was wrong. Oh no DR i said, we were having some laughs.
Yikes! I told the NP that yes, at 64, i have never been told i am a quiet person. I have learned to speak softly, but on this day, I had found out that I DID NOT DRINK ENOUGH WATER. This cannot be blamed on anyone else.

To all, no matter the length of time you have been on this journey, check how much water you are drinking. Most people do not get regular blood tests for creatinine. For today i have them every now 3 weeks. I must not just drink for the next blood test, but to help my body through my life every day.

Hi @millicentw! You are now part of this group so welcome to Connect and to the BMT club…such as it is. We have a growing number of members who have had a bone marrow/stem cell transplant for a variety of reasons. It’s a safe haven to discuss our transplant journeys, ask questions and offer support. We can be particularly helpful to newbies who are about to undergo the process.

Congratulations on your successful transplant. You’re one year ahead of me. I had mine in June 2019 and happy to say all is well! I’d love to have you share your story with us right here in this discussion where you’ve already posted!

There’s also another discussion that’s kind of fun. I started it a few years ago with a photo that wouldn’t be possible if not for having the transplant. Pop a pic in that discussion if you’re so inclined! ☺️

Snapshots of Hope: Life on the other side of transplant:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/snapshots-of-hope-life-on-the-other-side-of-transplant/
What illness brought you to needing a BMT?

Colleen, I would like to be part of this group discussion. I had my BMT in 2018. In remission since. Thanks