Side Effects, Head to Toe
Radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and other drugs used in BMTs can cause unpleasant side effects, which often go away after treatment ends. You may experience several, a few, or none of the more common ones listed here. Some side effects can be controlled by medications or by changing your diet or routine. Others can’t be prevented, but knowing they are normal may help you worry less.
Hair Loss
Chemotherapy drugs destroy cancer cells and other cells that reproduce rapidly, like hair cells. With some people, hair just thins. With others, it falls out from a few sections of the scalp, or completely eyebrows and eyelashes included. Hair usually grows back within 3 to 6 months, sometimes a different shade or texture.

What you can do: If your hair is long, you may want to cut it short before your transplant so it’s not such a drastic change if your hair starts to thin. Also, short hair is not as heavy as long hair, so hair that doesn’t fall out will have a fuller look if it is shorter. (To see how other kids have dealt with thinning hair, turn to pages 30-32.)
 Fatigue
Many things can make you feel tired: your body is working overtime to heal itself; you’re probably not sleeping as well as you did at home; you may not be eating enough due to nausea or loss of appetite; medicines that treat nausea and pain can cause drowsiness.

What you can do: Take naps during the day, and eat well-balanced meals and snacks. Even though you’re tired, it’s important to exercise. Activity actually gives you energy and helps keep your body strong. On days you have more energy, the physical therapist can make exercising fun. When you're feeling really drained, try to at least get up to bathe and clean your teeth.
Mood changes
Your treatment medications may affect your personality, taking you on an emotional rollercoaster ride. You may feel normal one minute and upset the next.
What you can do: Ask your doctors if your medications are causing your moodiness and whether they can be adjusted.