One-to-ten days before your transplant, you receive will and/or total body irradiation. This is called the conditioning or preparative regimen. At some centers it is referred to as high-dose chemotherapy or high-dose immunosuppressive therapy.
The conditioning regimen is designed to destroy the diseased cells in your body and/or to make room for the new, healthy blood stem cells. Some patients are hospitalized for the conditioning regimen. Others receive it in the outpatient clinic.
After a day or two of rest, your transplant will occur. Healthy blood stem cells will be infused into your body much like a blood transfusion. The blood stem cells will migrate to the cavities of your bones where, over the next few weeks, they will begin producing new blood cells. This is called engraftment.
During the first weeks following your transplant, your medical team will monitor you closely for complications such as infection, excessive bleeding and organ problems. If you were transplanted with stem cells from a donor you will be monitored for graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD).
Once it is safe to release you from the hospital, you will be closely monitored at an outpatient clinic.
Eventually, the outpatient clinic visits will end and you will be returned to the care of your local healthcare providers.
