Recovery after the Stem Cell Transplant

The recovery stage begins after the stem cell infusion. During this time, you and your family wait for the cells to engraft, or “take,” after which they begin to multiply and make new blood cells. The time it takes to start seeing a steady return to normal blood counts varies depending on the patient and the transplant type, but it’s usually about 2 to 6 weeks. You’ll be in the hospital or visit the transplant center daily for at least a few weeks. During the first couple of weeks you will have low numbers of red and white blood cells and platelets. Right after transplant, when your counts are the lowest, you may be given antibiotics to help keep you from getting infections (this is called prophylactic antibiotics). You may get a combination of anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-viral drugs. These are usually given until your white blood cell count reaches a certain level. Still, you can have problems, such as infection from too few white blood cells (neutropenia), or bleeding from too few platelets (thrombocytopenia). Many patients have high fevers and need IV antibiotics to treat serious infections. Transfusions of red blood cells and platelets are given until the bone marrow is working again and new blood cells are being made by the infused stem cells. Except for graft-versus-host disease, which only happens with allogeneic transplants, the side effects from autologous, allogeneic, and syngeneic stem cell transplants are much the same. Problems may include gastrointestinal (GI) or stomach problems, and heart, lung, liver or kidney problems.  You might also go through feelings of distress, anxiety, depression, joy, or anger. Adjusting emotionally after the stem cells can be hard because of the length of time you feel ill and isolated from others. Having a transplant is a big decision. Your life and your relationships will be disrupted. Your future becomes uncertain, the process makes you feel bad, and financially it can be overwhelming. You might feel as if you are on an emotional roller coaster during this time. Support and encouragement from family, friends, and the transplant team are very important to get you through the challenges of transplant.