I’m now SCT + 20. Released from hospital after 17 days and then re admitted to hospital 24 hrs later with an infection! One week later I was discharged and am now navigating the way back.
from experience, how long does the extreme fatigue last and also terrible nausea?
i know each person is different but always good to share.
Onwards and upwards
Hi Treacle57 and well done getting to this point…… you may remember I don’t have Myeloma but have had 2 Allogenic (donor) Stem Cell Transplants (June 2014 then Oct 2015).
Unlucky you getting a post SCT infection so quickly… I had no infections after my first Allo SCT and it took 10 months for my first infection to appear after my second Allo SCT….. then they came thick and fast over the next few winters.
As you say everyone is different, I had no fatigue or nausea after my first Allo SCT…. But following my second Allo the fatuge lasted a good 6 months and the nausea came and went during the same 6 months…
I often post this as it helps put an average timetable to recovery
My Consultant told me that going through the SCT process (diagnosis, treatment and recovery) is like doing a marathon and a boxing match every day over all the months to this point in time….. and this was done without any training.
Think about doing the London Marathon and boxing Mike Tyson without any training and you had to finish it as your life depended on it……. this is the journey you have been on so it most likely will take much longer than you would think to get back to some normality.
Not giving yourself enough time could be a backward step……. be a patient patient 
Some folks are lucky and bounce back quickly post treatment but more than often folks take a considerable amount of time to recover.….. at 3 months post my second SCT I was just out of my wheelchair and able to do a few steps with my walking sticks….. and was eating normally…… but I am now over 10 years out from SCT and living a great life…… there is light at the end of this tunnel
Keeping some activity going is important……. There are sign everywhere in my local Heamatology ward and clinic saying a week in bed is like ageing physically by 10 years…… I went into my second Allo SCT as a fit 60 year old but left 4 weeks later as a 90 year old.
My SCT consultant gave me this basic percentage scale for classifying where I was on the recover journey.
50% = when in the hospital going through the transplant process.
60% = significant medical/physical issues that do not allow any physical activity apart from a shower and short walk and not able to prepare food. Reliant of others for preparation of food.
70% = Significant medical/physical issues that do not allow any specific physical activity (not including a shower) but short walks and making a pot of soup. Will nap after the task.
80% = Physical issues that limits you to one activity per day. (not including shower) Able to prepare some food for a couple of people but most likely still taking a nap after activities.
90% = Some physical issues remaining (weak legs etc) but able to do a few tasks and may not be fully fit for permanent work but could do part time work. May have to .take a nap after doing tasks or work.
100% = No physical after effects and able to do multiple tasks including being back to work.
She also said on average recovery time-line is about 6 months with your recovery improving about 10-15% per month post SCT
This is an average time-line….. with general acceptance that when in the hospital going through the SCT process we are physically at about 50%…… any less would indicated some comorbidity issues like pre-existing health conditions that may reduce the 50% starting point and possibly add a month or so onto the recovery end…..
For example I have Asbestosis so this was looked at very closely and due to my prognosis was seen as an accepted comorbidity…… so I went back a good 10%…… other issues could be blood cancer type specifics, genetics…..
Cheers Mike. Some excellent advice there. I also have ulcerative colitis and gastritis and the chemo went straight for these areas
i lnow I just need to be patient- and grow so hair 
Being a patient patient is the way forward but most certainly challenging.
I was not sick during or after my first SCT….. but was severely sick on the night I got my cells during my second SCT…… then a few times over the 6 months…… but the nausea I had came from the Immunosuppressant I had to take over the 6 months post SCT due to me having a donors SCT.
The severe sickness on 0 day put in the ICU Unit as there was concerns I was having a heart attack……. That was not the case but did leave me with A-Fib for life as well as a massive Hiatus Hernia…… it’s so big that it actually fully encloses around my stomach and pancreas gland but I am very thankful that I don’t have any problems with it and only need some Lansoprazole to control the lining of the stomach.
If the HH becomes a problem then it will be a challenge what to do!!!!!!
But all said and done I am over 10 years out and living a great life.
We are all inspirational in my book.
