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

My story continues. I had my usual Monday visit, and my 30-day bone marrow biopsy came back. The Doctor said I am doing a great job, as all my blood numbers continue to rise nicely, and my marrow shows a 99.9 to 100 grafting of my donor in my bone marrow test. The Dr said keep doing what I am doing. My water intake is working, and he wishes all his patients would follow the suggestions they have outlined. Actually, the protocols for recovery from a transplant. I told him after my " you're killing your kidneys scare" 10 days ago, I want to do all I am asked so the Dr. knows I am doing my part for myself. I have read a few posts on my other site for breast cancer, and one person just diagnosed went down the google rabbit who and only sees doom and gloom. She had a dozen women in different stages of breast cancer give such wonderful messages. Every negative she put out, brought a dozen more women who shared. For me, this is why i also love the May clinic site. With Lori as a mentor and the other patients sharing their stories, I could visualize the road ahead. As best as possible, doing it one day at a time. One test at a time. All I am asked to do is take my meds on time, drink my water, exercise and eat as healthy as possible. I am now 42 days past transplant!
I also an into a lady that was on floor 6 with me in the hospital. I remembered her husband who was with her often. She had a 6 out of 10 match for her transplant. She had her transplant a day after me. What a joy to meet another who is on the same journey at the same time.
I am grateful for MDS and not advancing to leukemia. For the research study i am on that is helping prevent GVHD. A day I got to thank my dr and his staff.
I taught my dr. today about the 1/2 empty cup. The way some people look at life. Rather than to focus on the 1/2 full. He is from Iran.

Kat, you’re a poster child for how SCT is supposed to go! I enjoy seeing your positive updates. Honestly, attitude can make a huge difference in any journey, right? Looking for the doom and gloom sends a preconceived message that ‘nothing is going to go well…woe is me.’ That’s not productive.
Attitude and effort are two things over which we have control and both can help change the outcome on multiple levels in our life. You are a shining example! Consider where you were in this journey a few months ago with worrying about making the decision to go ahead with the transplant, finding a caregiver and making the logistics of this all work out. Your ‘can do’ attitude and perseverance for a healthy future without cancer propelled you forward until you found a way to make it work! You are a force!

It’s so cool you’ve become friends with another woman who had her transplant the same time! My friend and I are still in contact 5 years later after meeting post transplant. She lives a 1,000 miles from me so we seldom see each other. But occasionally the planets align and our follow up appts coincide at the same time in Rochester. Other than that, we email frequently. It’s really special to have someone to chat with who shared your similar experiences, same doctors/nurses, clinic, etc..

You’re a BMT team’s dream with your following all of their directives. Even though we may not always like them, protocols and guidance are in place for a reason, because they work. So kudos to you for upping that water intake and popping those meds on time. It’s not forever but it sure will help to ensure the positive out of your SCT. Interesting, but since my transplant, I never stopped my daily intake of 64+ oz of water. It became a habit and I feel so much better for it.
Keep up the great work and thanks for brightening my day with your positive message! Sending an air hug!

Today was day 52 after transplant and i got to talk with the Doctor. Overall, he said i am doing well. Most numbers in my blood were consistently good although the white cells and those numbers did not come in yet. I asked him about some of the meds and asked how long i need to take Mephron. He said it would switch me to pills. Bactrim! He said for this drug, plenty of water is necessary, as the drug can affect the kidney.
Taken on Saturday and Sunday only. It has side effects of course, so i will see how those may happen if at all.
He read the report i saw in my portal that says i am 100% male. For now, he said, as we are only on day 52 and the body still can make different choices. He said as for HVGD disease, 40% of people with BTS have some sort of side effects. He then insisted I not go to the internet to look up all the symptoms. Not to send unnecessary worries through my head on what I may get. He also added that these side effect do not necessary end in 100, 180 or 2 years. It is always possible to have side effects. We just need to keep them informed.

I will say i have looked up MDS and read a number of posts on this site. I know from the bottom of my heart that I cannot predict what my body is going to do. I do know I felt a little nausea so a took a Zofran this morning.

I love reading abbout others who have supportive spouses who are able to assist. Not all of us do, but wish we did, so we find others. I have said I have 2 caregivers. My main one cannot cook at all. Oh my. I am making all my favorites as best i can from my WW app. Beans, veggies, fruit and whole grains. I have found through both cancer treatments that sourdough bread tastes the best. With or without butter. We find what works for us and we make it happen. Soon enough, I will be back in my own home.

I honestly say to myself every day that I AM A BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT PATIENT! Today I told the 3 nurses near the station, that i need to tell myself this is not the breast cancer. My body shows me that part of my health journey is over. Easier recovery without a doubt. This path has a much longer track for healing.
My supervisor is finally talking to the HR director Monday. I contacted her on May 6th. Most of my vacation hours are now used and I do not have Disability. I am not letting this bug me. I will take the laptop to my dr visits and do work while I am there. I have learned every seeming roadblock has a way to get around it. It is not always easy, but it is possible.
Grateful to be 52 days into it.

Hi Kat! Wow, 52 days already? That’s crazy how fast the time has flown. Congratulations on doing so well. There can be little changes along the way. You have to be flexible but you have the best attitude. Roll with the punches or whatever the phrase is. To get through a BMT you need to have sense of adventure, a sense of humor and to remain flexible.

Hah, you’re now a chimera, officially having 2 sets of DNA. I’m also 100% male and have my donor’s blood type. I suspect you’re seeing the same thing in your chimerism test. We want to see 100% donor and 0% recipient cells!

I agree with your doctor. Stay off the internet (except for Connect, of course!) 😉 Looking for post transplant info can scare the bejeebers out of a person. There is always a risk of developing GVHD. Graft Vs Host Disease when we have an Allogenic transplant. My doctor and his team told me not to fear it. That if I have a reaction, then they will handle it! And that’s exactly what they did.
Also, we want some level of GVHD. It is the entire premise of having the transplant. It’s called Graft Vs Tumor effect where the newly implanted stem cells (new immune system) will once again recognize the cancer cells. Your old immune system, with the MDS failed to recognize them any longer and that’s why the cancer cells were allowed to proliferate out of control. You had the transplant before that happened so it wasn’t as apparent for you. But that’s where you MDS was heading.

So again, Congrats and keep drinking that water. Tacro is another tough one on the kidneys so flushing is very important. Thanks for the update!! Air hug to you!!

Thank you, Lori. I was thinking as i wrote that GVHD was the correct, but i changed the letter order.
And thankfully my sick hours are mostly used, but i have number of vacation days left. I will use those sparingly.
i forgot to add I spoke of the May clinic connect at my BC.org zoom meeting yesterday. We were talking about resources, and I said Mayo connect has helped me through my transplant.
I have friends that like nothing but in person anything. They feel no connection unless they are with a real person.
I am grateful for all electronic media. It lets me meet people I may never meet in person, yet connect and share our lives in places like this forum.

This has to be complicated when you’re employed…balancing sick days, vacation days and whatever leave you can take for recovery. I hope your employer is understanding and you’ll be able to ease your way back into your position.
Thank you so much for giving a shout out to your group about Mayo Connect. Maybe if they pop into the forum they’ll see people can make genuine connections without actually physically meeting. I feel like I know so many of you already that we could be friends in real life. What I love is the willingness of members to rush to the rescue of each other when we need support and encouragement. Connectd isn’t your average social media site. ☺️
I’m so happy that you’re progressing so well with your recovery. 52 days, more than halfway to the critical 100 day point!! 💕

i have pv and was told that a bone marroe transplant would not be good for me it would kill me.

Hi @bharty615 Generally, a bone marrow transplant is reserved for extreme conditions such as leukemia, MDS,
Sickle Cell Anemia, MS, certain autoimmune diseases, etc., for when a patient has run out of other treatment options.

In your case of polycythemia vera, there are several, much easier and less risky options, such as a phlebotomy when needed and medications such as Hydroxyurea, aspirin, anagrelide, Interferon drugs~Besremi or Intron-A, busulfan (Myleran), imatinib (Gleevec), and ruxolitinib (Jakafi).

What treatments has your doctor suggested to keep your PV under control?