Care of Patient after Bone Marrow Transplant.

After a bone marrow transplant, the patient needs to take excellent care at home. A minor mistake or careless behavior leads to a major loss, as a bone marrow transplant is a very sensitive procedure in which a patient’s bone marrow is damaged OR finished and new marrow from a matched sibling is transplanted. When the new bone marrow of the donor starts working and if the patient is fit for discharge physician decides to send the patient home with proper discharge teaching. Bone marrow transplant doctors and nurses give proper discharge instructions to patients.

Important Teaching Points Include:

Take Prescribed Medication:

your transplant consultant will prescribe a list of medications at discharge. Medication may include immunosuppressive to avoid transplant rejection. anti-biotics for some days to prevent bacterial infections, anti-fungal to prevent fungal infections, anti-viral medicine to prevent viral infections, and some supportive medicine to manage minor symptoms such as nausea, body aches, joint pains, etc. Instruct the patient to take prescribed medications at the said time.

Personal Hygiene:

Take excellent care of personal hygiene. Moreover, Daily taking baths and wearing clean clothes and undergarments keep the patient neat, clean, and fresh and prevent from getting infections.

Use Hygienic Food:

You can use all types of foods and fruits after the transplant, but they should be well-cooked and hygienic. Moreover, the food should be homemade.

Avoid restaurant dining with friends and family:

Avoid restaurant dining with friends and family. However, the food cooked in restaurants may not suit you. Which further may have a bad impact on your health. As in a restaurant, food is cooked for a large number of people and that could not be hygienic.

Maintain good Hydration: Keep yourself well hydrated by drinking more water or fluids. Maintaining hydration is very important after a transplant to protect kidneys from the side effects of medication.

Avoid going to crowded places:

Moreover, Avoid going out in crowded places like markets, parks, and malls. Due to immature or suppressed immunity, you can get infections like flu, Tuberculosis, and COVID-19 very easily. 

Avoid self-medication:

Avoid taking over-the-counter medication which can interact with your transplant medications and can decrease or increase their effectiveness.

protect yourself from getting infections:

Avoid close contact with someone who has a fever, active coughing, or flu at home. Also, use a separate toilet for at least 4-5 months after your transplant.

keep yourself active:

Avoid energy-consuming exercises such as going to the gym. Engage in light activities like walking as much as you can tolerate, and avoid staying in bed all day.

Take proper rest:

Take proper sleep as your body needs regeneration of all body tissues affected by high-dose chemotherapy.

Avoid drug-food interaction:

Avoid grapefruit (Chakotra) with a medicine cyclosporine (the most important medicine of transplant) that can affect cyclosporine levels in your blood.

stay near the transplant center: Try to stay near to transplant Centre for at least one to two months to get immediate care in case of an emergency.

Consult your doctor:

Consult your doctor immediately if you notice the following symptoms:

• Fever consecutive two spikes of 100.5F OR one spike of 101F
  • Severe Vomit and diarrhea: These can be signs of GUT GVHD.
  • Skin rash (a sign of skin GVHD) never delays consulting your transplant physician.

(What is GVHD)?

 So, after the transplant, good care at home and early detection and management of symptoms can have more successful results and keep safe patient from being complicated.