Hi. My son in law just had his SCT yesterday. He has done well so far. He is at the Anderson Cancer Institute in Houston. He is in-patient. He is very up beat and his team has been so supportive. They brought him a “new” birthday cake after the transplant! Though he wasn’t up for cake it definitely lifted his spirits. He will have two days of rest and then he will begin the anti rejection process. So far we are all praying that things will continue to go well. I’ll let you know how things go moving forward.
Kathy

I had my SCT at Moffitt in Tampa. The biggest thing I remember was the ice. Just before they gave me the (can’t remember the name, mela..) chemo infusion and official start to the actual SCT. They had me eat ice chips as fast and much as I could. The nurses said it helps and they can always tell who didn’t eat enough ice. In my case, they came in and said start eating ice they’re on the way. So I did, then they called and said there had been a problem and to stop. I did, but now I was bloated. About 5-8 min later they called again and said they were on the way. This time however, because I was bloated, I couldn’t eat it as fast. Basically the faster u eat the ice and “freeze” your digestive trac, the less likely to develop sores along it. I ended up having issues in my stomach and digestive trac that made me so sick and nauseous that I couldn’t keep anything down, not even water. They had me on 4 diff types of nausea meds before I could keep anything down. Other then that, my experience was pretty decent. They had all kinds of special services that you can ask for, and even if you don’t ask, sometimes they walk around and peek in and ask. A lady asked if I liked live music, and I said sure. She came in with a harp and played beautifully. Once I had the nausea under control. The rest wasn’t so bad for me. It kinda felt like I had the worst flu.

Glad to hear you are feeling great Joe. I know we will eventually get there. We are going through Moffitt Cancer center and they do the SCT on an outpatient basis. Grateful that we live a short drive away.

I had my SCT in patient at the Brigham & Womens Hospital in Boston. MA. I spent 14 days in the hospital. I was fortunate that I didn’t really experience any acute side affects (no mouth sores, nausea, vomiting). I did have a light case of diarrhea and experienced some hair sensitivity and loss which I remedied by taking the step of shaving my head. Since my release, I have been gaining strength every week and becoming more active. Following SCT guidelines, staying hydrated, exercising (walking, stationary bike, stretching, etc), playing my guitar, daily prayers, and keeping my mind active have helped me immensely. Now +65 days and feeling great.

Hi. Just to update. After a longer stay than expected my son in law is finally out of the hospital! Continues to do really well. Took a bit for his white cell count to climb, but the Dr wasn’t concerned. He said as long as your numbers are going up we’ll be okay He’s in an apartment nearby the hospital for now. Daily appointments. Still up beat, boredom is his biggest complaint. Very few side effects. The power of prayer is amazing. So he’s 30 days out. We continue to pray he can get home to his family soon. His numbers are going up and he had a biopsy yesterday. Waiting for the results. Apparently this will tell more about his transplants success. He drinks as much water as he can and is eating healthy and trying to exercise regularly. Not allowed much outside time yet but he’s doing well. I’m amazed at his progress. 🤞🙏🙏