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Recovery of Bone marrow transplant

If you have had an autologous transplant, your body will not reject the bone marrow.

If you have had an allogenic transplant, it usually takes between two and four weeks for your body to accept the new bone marrow and start to produce healthy blood cells. You may be given medication to help stimulate the blood cell production, and immuno-suppression drugs to reduce the risk of graft-versus host disease. You will have regular blood tests to see if the new bone marrow is working.

After the operation, while your body is recovering, you will be at risk from serious infections, as your immune system is not functioning properly. You will probably need to take antibiotics and take precautions to avoid the risk of infection.

For some time after your bone marrow transplant you may need to have regular blood transfusions to maintain the right level of blood cells in your body and prevent anaemia.

If you have had a bone marrow transplant because you had leukaemia, you may have to have more chemotherapy after the transplant to make sure the leukaemia does not come back.

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