Each year, many adults and children undergo a bone marrow transplant. For many patients, education and support for the bone marrow transplant process is provided but, most commonly, these education and support programs fail to educate in the area of post-treatment care.
When in need of a bone marrow transplant, it is important to understand not only the details of your procedure, but also the issues surrounding post treatment; such as physical, emotional and psychological complications.
Following a bone marrow transplant, there are a variety of health issues that you may experience, ranging from sleep disorders to fatigue, from muscle cramps to memory deficiencies. While some of these physical complications are short term and temporary, others may linger for many months.
For many bone marrow transplant patients, the key to a return to a healthy life, following a bone marrow transplant, lies, partly, in the patients mental state and ability to overcome minor set backs in recovery. This can be quite complicating especially when the bone marrow patient experiences not only complications and side effects right after the bone marrow transplant surgery but also delayed and long term side effects. As a bone marrow transplant patient, it is important to understand these physical complications will continue for several years but, eventually, you will find that the surgery was successful and lead a relatively normal life.
In additional to physical complications, both acute and chronic, the bone marrow transplant patient also commonly experiences emotional and psychological distress following surgery, leading to social impairment in some cases. As your healing process begins, after surgery, you will often find that your relationship with family and friends, who supported you through your illness, becomes stronger after surgery as you gain strength and are optimistic about your future. Also, for many patients who experience a life threatening illness, the perceptions about life and death will also change; you may find you are more appreciative of life and value things and people you may not have valued prior to your diagnosis.
One key aspect of emotional recovery following a bone marrow transplant often includes the sudden desire to make a change in the world. While many bone marrow transplant patients will begin to pursue charity work after going into remission, it is important to not allow your philanthropy work disturb your responsibilities to family, career and finances. Because many bone marrow transplant patients will experience this driving desire to pursue passions in life, many will suffer depression and anxiety over the “conflict” their careers and family may pose to them.
As a bone marrow transplant patient, before proceeding through surgery, it is important to consider not only the physical aspect of recovery but also the psychological and emotional aspect. To ensure your optimal health recovery, many healthcare professionals will recommend counseling by a mental health specialist as part of your recovery and healing process. When this recommendation is made, be open to the possibilities of the potential complications and the rewards and passions that will follow recovery from bone marrow complications.
