What should I know abut visitors during the ASCT process?

What should I know about visitors during the autologous stem cell transplant process?

So as far as having visitors during the transplant, you can have visitors. You know, obviously when we do transplants as an outpatient, we tell, patients need to have a caregiver present 24 over seven. For an outpatient transplant.

And you can certainly have people come in and, meet you as well in the hospital. But the policy is that it will be good because your immune system is extremely weak at that point. So anyone who has an active infection, cold sniffles should probably stay away.

So you have to let people know that if they are sick, that's probably not best for them to come and visit you either at the place you are staying or in the hospital.

And when people are coming, it's important that maybe they can wear a mask just to protect you from against infections. Make sure they're washing their hands and you're washing your hand and sanitizing them when they come and meet you.

Maybe it's good not to bring any, like, fresh flowers or those kind of, things, when they come and visit you in the hospital, it's probably not good to have any pets around.

Or maybe even babies, for that matter. Obviously someone is sick at home, then I would not recommend them to come visit you.

And nowadays, there are other means, you know, to stay in touch with people. You can use social media, you can Skype, you can zoom. So you can stay connected that way as well.

Essentially what is happening after the transplant is that you're getting a brand new immune system.

So it's almost like a baby being born. So all the vaccinations and immunizations and resisting that you had developed against previous infections is kind of lost. So you don't start your vaccinations until like six months after the transplant. So during that period you will be at a high risk of infections. So I would certainly advise caution. You know, there's no, a clear number that we say that you cannot have more than this number of people, but usually it's good to, be cautious.

Like I said, you know, if you have someone who's sick, then obviously it's not best for them to come and visit you. Maybe it's good for people. Can wear mask. Do hand washing and hand sanitizing. Just the usual precautions. I would say when someone is coming to visit you

Will I be able to attend public gatherings?

So if you need to go to a wedding or a function, then certainly you can go. But wearing a mask is usually, recommended.

And you can also, make sure that you're use washing using hand sanitizer. And because once we have let you go from the hospital, means that your immune system is kind of strong enough that it can, you know, you can be at home and you will also be on certain medications, to protect you against certain kind of infections.

So that can add an added layer of protection for you to try to live your life as normally as possible during this period.

To learn more about how to protect yourself from infections, watch the Lessons in Health Tree University's Infections in Myeloma course on this topic.