SCT

Hi again Marcia111, do you know what type of SCT you will be having?

An Autologous (Auto for short) where you are put into remission, your clean Stem Cells are harvested (like giving blood) and given back to you once your immune system is taken down

Or

An Allograft (Allo for short) where you would get Stem Cells from a matched donor.

This is rather important as there is a significant difference between them.

Marcia111 said:

premobilisation work up

I actually never heard this term used.

Are you in the UK Marcia?

From what you have pointed out I didn't realise the different SCT. I am having Auto.

I am based in the UK 

Thanks for this.

I could not have an Auto as I could not be put into remission so had to have two Allo’s. The good news is that there are less complications with an Auto rather than during an Allo 

This is my Simple Guide to an Auto (Autologous) Stem Cell Transplant.

For an Auto SCT the patient will have to be in a window of remission so that their Stem Cells can be harvested this often requires what is often called salvage treatment.... basically some chemo that can often be strong but is designed to achieve the goal.

The patient will most likely have a week of injections to make the bone marrow work overtime to produce lots of Stem Cells.

To harvest the Stem Cells a line is put into the arm. Its sort of like giving blood - the blood runs into a very clever machine that brrrrs the blood round and picks out what are called undifferentiated cells (these Stem Cells have not been given a job by the bonemarrow so this is before they turn into Red or White blood cells etc) and the blood returns through the line back into the blood stream.

The machine can pick out millions of stem cells over a 4-5 hours process. The harvest is on the whole painless and once harvested the Stem Cells are frozen.

Leading up to the actual SCT the patient will have to have treatments to get to a stage where the SCT can proceed.

So 7ish days leading up to the SCT day he/she will have to go through what is called Conditioning, its a method of taking down the bodies Immune System completely.

This is normally done again using some very strong chemotherapy and for some like myself, Radiotherapy..... but I had an Allo SCT.

Once the Immune System is taken down they give the harvested Stem Cells back just like getting a blood transfusion through a Central Line.

The Stem Cells then go to the Job Centre in the Bonemarrow and ask for a job. This is the point where they become differentiated cells like Red and White blood cells and the all ’New You’ starts to grow as the body starts to reboot the Immune System and over time the blood counts come back up.

Its all very cleaver, very science fiction but all very do-able.

Each SCT Unit will do their own thing but for an Auto SCT the conditioning can be done as an out-patient then when the patient is get close to get their cells back this is done in a dedicated SCT unit.

Its a very clean environment (Ward) in a hospital, the patient may even get their own on-suite room. The time in the unit will be different for everyone but expect at least a few weeks - but the medical team will keep the patient well informed.

Remember the patient does not have an immune system to fight bugs during this time so safety first, but SCT teams are very good at keeping everything under control until new immune system kicks back in. The patient will be an in-patient for some of the time but this all depends on how fast the ’New You’ starts to grow. The average is about 4-6 weeks in the unit but can be quicker.

Once the patient gets discharged they do need to be very carful during the weeks following the SCT as the new Immune System is still growing so care with coming in contact with infectious environments but their team will give lots of guidelines.

Expect weekly appointments for bloods etc as they will want to keep a close eye on the patient.

I would also say that the fatigue following a SCT is much higher than going through regular chemo but that could just be me, going off food and some mouth issues do come along but these SCT teams will help as they have seen it all before.

This is an ongoing threads covering being in a SCT Unit Checklist for SCT Unit

Once you know the name of the Conditioning come back as we can help with that one as well.

You will have lots of questions so you will find me and others able to help out with anything SCT related.

I always say that you can’t do anything to control the actual medical treatments but you can make a difference to how you get through your journey, but we can help you get though this.

Understanding stem cell transplants using your own cells (autologous) - PDF here.

Thank you so much Mike this information is exactly what I need to know especially as I really didn't have a clue about SCT.

It's great to know that there is someone out there who just tells it how it is  and someway reassuring me along the way.

When I  start the SCT I will surely be back here for support if that's okay.

Many thanks again 

The group is always around to drop in at any time with any questions.

Mike.

Love the job centre reference.

I can know think of my wife currently attending daily interviews!!!!

Marcia111

Best of luck on your journey, As Mike Says, there are many people on here to help you along with any questions you may have.

(Fulhamboy) Nick

Hello Marcia 

I am due to be admitted for SCT on 5 September.  I have had a mark up session for Radiotherapy which will be given as part of the conditioning therapy before the transplant.

I have an appointment on Wednesday for what was described to me as a work up.  This I am told includes blood tests ECG Echocardiogram Chest X ray etc being various health checks before SCT can commence.

Wishing you all the best.

Hi Titchfield Man, interesting how different treatment centres use different terms.

One of my SCT Consultants always called it Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) which in the early days was very confusing when I was doing my early research as SCT is completely different process from a BMT

I had radiotherapy as part of my conditioning for both my Allo SCTs.

Radiotherapy set up was simple called ‘set up’ and pre SCT tests were again just called ‘tests’ 

Do you know the exact name of your conditioning?

I had ATG/TLI for my first Allo SCT then 30 sessions of Radiotherapy then FluMelAlem30 for my second Allo SCT.

Hi Titchfield Man

This is all very interesting and gives me an insight on what I might expect.

Good luck and all the very best.