[Lacerta]

First meeting with transplant doctor - what to ask?

by Lacerta on Tue Feb 02, 2016 9:30 am

Hi,

On behalf of my mother, we wonder if there are some particular things we should remember to ask at our first meeting with the doctor responsible for the high dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation?

[SK1]

Re: First meeting with transplant doctor - what to ask?

by SK1 on Tue Feb 02, 2016 4:45 pm

My wife, age 62, recently went through her first transplant. Questions really depend on what you already know or don't. Is the transplant outpatient or in hospital? Filling her mouth with as much ice and for as long as possible during the high dose chemo will pay off in reduced mouth sores. Exercise was something they initially forgot to remind us of. Are they pleased with the amount of stem cells they collected? How many bags will they transplant (the fewer the faster)?

Just a partial list. Good luck!

[lrankin]

Re: First meeting with transplant doctor - what to ask?

by lrankin on Tue Feb 02, 2016 8:13 pm

My husband had his stem cell transplant in an outpatient setting in September / October at Moffitt. Moffitt is very thorough on the materials and the caregiver class you have to take.

I wanted to know the game plan to help prevent nausea or diarrhea. I wanted to know what the day-to-day experience would be like. Also, how long would my husband be restricted in his food and being able to go out.

[Leealli]

Re: First meeting with transplant doctor - what to ask?

by Leealli on Fri Feb 05, 2016 8:35 pm

When we were preparing for my mom's transplant last year we wanted to know the risks, the gains, what would happen during the process and the details of the transplant, the side effects and how they would be counteracted, what meds they would be using, what the room (if inpatient) was like and what it has in it, what the food rules would be, what the nurse-to-patient ratio is, and what would happen after discharge.

We received a manual and later a binder full of info, had a required family meeting along with others about to have the same thing reviewing the process and all the "rules," a family meeting with just us and a coordinator and the doctor and a pharmacist, and I read everything I could find about it on the Internet.

I remember at the first meeting with the doctor he asked us what questions we had - but we didn't yet know what to ask. We had several more appointments with him along with all the other meetings before admission.