me and my marrow, hospital questions

Once your treatment has begun and your risk of infection becomes greater, you may only be allowed to have one or two family visitors. Some hospitals permit a parent to stay in your room with you, especially if the hospital is far from your home.

Usually patients spend one or more months in the hospital, but every patient's situation is different. How quickly you can be discharged depends on how quickly your bone marrow and body recover from the transplant.

Once you're admitted, you'll be taken on a tour of the transplant unit to see how the equipment works and to meet the people who will be involved with your treatment. They'll explain procedures and tell you some of the things you can expect.

The members of your treatment team are experts in BMTs and SCTs. Besides the doctors and nurses who specialize in transplants, you’ll probably also work with the following people.

Transplant coordinator: explains special procedures and treatment to you throughout your stay.
Dietician or nutritionist: meets with you to create menus based on foods that you like and that will aid your recovery.
Child-life specialist: helps you and your family adjust to hospital life.
Hospital dentist: examines your mouth, teeth, and gums throughout your transplant and treats any problems.
Radiation technician: uses radiation to prepare your body for the transplant.
Phlebotomist: collects blood samples for testing.
Physical therapist: helps you exercise and stay fit while you’re in the hospital.

Doctors may want you to have the following tests to make sure you’re as healthy as possible. (Any infections—no matter how small—must be treated and eliminated before the transplant can be done.) Doctors will also compare the tests done before and after your transplant to see how your body may have changed due to your treatment.

Chest x-ray: to check your lungs for pneumonia.

EKG (electrocardiogram): to look at your heart rhythm.

Sample “cultures”: taken of throat, urine, stool, and nose to check for infections.

Blood draws: to check your blood-cell counts.

For the next several months, your transplant doctors and nurses will be providing you with special care. You'll spend some of that time in the hospital. The more prepared you are for your stay, the more comfortable you’ll be. Here are answers to some common questions kids have about their hospital stay.

Click on a question to get information that will help you know what to expect before you go.

Being around a hospital takes some getting used to. In many ways, it's a different world: you're hooked up to strange machines and people use language you don't understand. You're sleeping in a different bed and you're unfamiliar with just about everything that happens to you during the day. It can be scary, but talking to your caregivers about your concerns can help. (See "Tips for Talking")