Imagine the symptoms of a severe case of the flu - nausea, vomiting, fever, diarrhea, extreme weakness. Now imagine what it's like to cope with the symptoms not just for several days, but for several weeks. That approximates what a BMT patient experiences during hospitalization. Recovery Recovery continues at home. Your child will continue to be immune suppressed for a varying period of time and will remain closely monitored by the BMT team.
Full recovery is slow, with it taking up to two years for the patient to return to full health.
The bone marrow of the patient is first destroyed and then replaced with healthy stem cells. The stem cells can be collected in one of several ways. Stem cells can also be obtained from umbilical cord blood, which is rich in stem cells. Leukemias, aplastic anemia, lymphomas, and neuroblastoma have been successfully treated with BMTs. In other types of cancers, the bone marrow cells are normal, but are destroyed by intense chemo and radiation used to treat the cancer.