re: Bone marrow transplant w/chemo - anyone ever done this or know anyone who has?

I completed an Autologous stem cell transplant in August of last year at MD Anderson. bmela12 is pretty much spot on with what you will experience. I was there during the Texas lockdown for covid. We had to rent an apartment in the medical center area. First week was base line blood work, tests and inserting of my port. Second week was stem cell harvest. Third and fourth week was hospital stay. Fifth and sixth week was spent laying low in apartment, visiting the hospital every day for baseline bloodwork until counts came up.

I'm pretty hard headed and went in with the attitude of making this treatment my b$%^h. I pledged to myself that I would walk the halls and eat something every day no matter how bad I felt and I stuck to it. I was told by the nurses that exercise and nutrition go a long way in shortening the recovery. I don't know what kind of chemo they will give you, but I was advised to eat plenty of ice during the first couple days to minimize throat symptoms. I've had 3 PET's and everything is headed in the right direction. I am currently redoing all of my childhood immunizations as they are erased just as your immune system will be. You are bigger than the treatment and disease. Most importantly, don’t let the procedure overwhelm you mentally. Yes, it’s a ton of crap, but find a project or something to focus on while in the hospital. Hang in there brother. You and your family are in my prayers.