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Common short term side effects such as fever, chills and back pain.
I was out of the hospital two days after the sct, in NYC it is no longer an extended stay. However, I subsequently had to see my oncologist 4x a week for 30 days. Luckily my oncologist's home base was on Long Island and my brother, sister-in-law and nephew drove me to and from for those days as I was in a very compromised immunity situation. The main side effects caused by the massive dose of melphalan, was weight loss, hair loss, hardly any appetite, bouts of diarrhea and nausea/vomiting. I could not keep even simple ways to digest food down for at least four weeks. Eventually, I lived on Boost or Ensure and slowly started getting my appetite back. I actually started exercising, albeit very lightly about two weeks post sct.
By 90 days, even though I was still immunocompromised, I started feeling a whole lot better and by 6 months, even though I just started getting revaccinated, I felt relatively normal from a physical point of view. Mentally, that's a whole other ballgame.
Almost 2 years later post sct, I'm still trying to get into a better frame of mind. It's difficult to say the least.
After an autologous stem cell transplant, short-term side effects like fever, chills, nausea, and fatigue are most intense during the first few weeks. Most people stay in the hospital for about two to three weeks while the new cells begin to grow and blood counts recover.
The first 100 days after a transplant are Show Full Answer
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