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stem Cell Transplant still waiting
Hello, I'm new to this, and my first ever post.
My husband was diagnosed with AML with Flt3. He's had 3x cycles of chemo. He's reached remission. We went to meet SC consultant yesterday, and a date for the 23rd October is penciled in. However my husbands liver has shown some scarring. He's had all tests but none were available for the consultant. They are possibly going to request a biopsy, so any risks can be mitigated. With this delay he may need to have a fourth round. Today we feel crushed, having had all the risks explained, along with the possible life expectancies of no transplant vs transplant if it can or will be available. Just wanted to know if anyone else has been in a similar situation.
Comments
Hi Shelley5,
I'm Rachel, Lead Nurse here at Anthony Nolan. I'm sorry to hear you've had this news and that there may be a delay to your husbands transplant as a result. I'm sure it's difficult to process, particularly when you've got the remission confirmed.
I can't give you first hand experience of coping with this, as another patient could but, to reassure you, having a good 'work up' before the transplant is very normal to identify any potential problems and delays do commonly occur at this stage.
Stem cell transplant treatment isn't straightforward, as I'm sure you've been made aware, there are a number of complications that can occur, so having as much information about lungs/heart/liver etc is helpful to the medical team in managing any problems if they arise.
If you'd like to talk to someone in our helpline team, please get in touch on 0303 303 0303.
I hope your husband gets a plan for the biopsy quickly and that his ongoing treatment goes well.
Kind regards
Rachel
Thank you Rachel, I will take your advice and make a call to discuss. Shelley
Hey Shelley,
My name is Dan Yeates - I am one of the Online Community Champions here at Anthony Nolan and I had my own Stem Cell Transplant for ALL in June 2020.
If you are worried about the impact of delaying a transplant then please don't be alarmed - your medical team can talk you through all of what will be needed and the impact. Personally I had to wait an extra 2 months for my transplant following my Chemotherapy course because of the Covid pandemic - it just wasn't safe to conduct transplants at the time as it was peak pandemic.
I got lucky and managed to have no significant complications in the meantime so I didn't need a top up course of chemo, but the impact on my recovery of having to delay the transplant was very minimal, since I was already in remission, as your husband is.
Taking the time to check risks is the right thing to do as the transplant itself has a big impact on one's body, so it sounds like the docs are just being careful - trust them, this is what they do all day every day.
Sending you much love, prayers and thoughts,
Dan