For example, the virus called CMV (cytomegalovirus) is a common infection that many adults have or had in the past. Your doctor may check you before the transplant for signs of certain infections that may become active after transplant, and give you special medicines to keep those germs under control. Antibiotics are often used to keep transplant patients from getting this. Even though the germ doesn’t harm people with normal immune systems, for others it can cause fever, cough, and serious breathing problems. For instance, pneumocystis pneumonia (often called PCP) is a common infection that’s easy to catch. You may be given antibiotics to try to prevent infections until your blood counts reach a certain level. This is because right after the transplant you don't have many white blood cells that are working well, and they are the primary immune cells that fight off infections. And even infections that cause only mild symptoms in people with normal immune systems can be quite dangerous for you. Bacterial infections are most common during this time, but viral infections that were controlled by your immune system can become active again. Infectionįor at least the first 6 weeks after transplant, until the new stem cells start making white blood cells (engraftment), you can easily get serious infections. If they aren’t working, they will need to be changed. You’ll need to tell your transplant team how well the medicines are controlling your nausea and vomiting. In many cases, two or more medicines are used. No one drug can prevent or control chemo-related nausea and vomiting 100% of the time. Preventive treatment should start before chemo is given and should continue for as long as the chemo is likely to cause vomiting, which can be up to 7 to 10 days after the last dose. As much as possible, the goal is to prevent nausea and vomiting, because it’s easier to prevent it than it is to stop it once it starts. Nausea and vomitingīecause chemotherapy drugs can cause severe nausea and vomiting, doctors often give anti-nausea medicines at the same time as chemo to try to prevent it. If mouth pain or sores make it hard to eat or swallow, your transplant team can help you develop a plan to manage your symptoms. Good nutrition is important for people with cancer. It usually gets better within a few weeks after treatment, but it can make it very painful to eat and drink. Mucositis (inflammation or sores in the mouth) is a short-term side effect that can happen with chemo and radiation. Ask for their after hours contact numbers to make sure you will be able to do this. Some of these problems can be life-threatening, so it’s important to be able to reach your doctor or transplant team at night, on weekends, and during holidays. This is not a complete list and you should tell your doctor or transplant team about any problems you have or changes you notice. Some can be prevented, and most can be treated to help you feel better. Your transplant team can help you cope with side effects. Others may be side effects of the conditioning treatments themselves. Many of the problems that can happen shortly after the transplant come from having the bone marrow wiped out by medicines or radiation just before the transplant.
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