A bone marrow or stem cell transplant is not a simple procedure that you can manage by yourself. Your BMT Surgeon in Pune, will ask you to get a full-time family caregiver who will be available to help you during transplant and your recovery period.

Generally, a close family member can act as the caregiver. If you do not have close family members, you can reach out to the extended family members or friends for help or hire a nurse.

Reason for a Full-Time Family Caregiver

While you go through treatment, you will be too ill and frail to manage your medical and household affairs on your own for several weeks or months. A full-time family caregiver is called for to ensure that you instantly get the medical treatment you need and that your home is a safe environment.

While you are staying in the hospital, your caregiver will be responsible for:

• telling the medical team about any progress or changes in your condition
• giving you emotional support
• advocating for your needs and helping you with decision-making
• communicating with family and friends
• After you’re released from the hospital, your caregiver will take up additional duties including:
• transporting you to the hospital
• keeping a record of your medical appointments
• being certain that you receive your many medications according to schedule
• taking care of dressings
• reporting any changes in your condition to the medical team
• assessing you for signs of infection and other complications
• encouraging you to eat
• in some situations, providing you with intravenous medications

Besides, your caregiver will require to ensure your home set-up is safe. This includes:

• cleaning and cooking according to the instructions furnished by your transplant team
• protecting you from causes of infection, such as visitors with any sickness
• helping you travel safely if you need help

Being a Caregiver is a Stressful Job

Caring for a transplant patient is physically demanding and emotionally depleting. Watching as a loved one goes through a difficult medical procedure at Bone marrow transplant in Mumbai taxes even the most optimistic caregiver. Helping other family members grapple with the experience adds to the overload. People who have been a caregiver for a recovering transplant patient agree on one factor: You must take time to care for yourself so that you can be an effective caregiver.

As a caretaker, there are several elements you can do to help you manage a balance while caring for your loved one.

Set up a divided support system for yourself.

Special friends, a spiritual counsellor or a mental health teacher, can be valuable sources of support during the difficult transplant process.

Maintain a diary and carry it with you.

Write down everything. So much is spoken and executed during the transplant and recovery period that recalling it can be hard. If writing it all down is troublesome, consider recording notes on a cell phone or tablet. You can likewise use a diary just for you, as a place to scribble down your concerns and feelings.

Take time to rejuvenate yourself.

Try to eat well-balanced meals, take some exercise and take enough sleep. Carve out some alone time to get your worries off the job at hand. It’s ok to read a book, see a movie or make time for a walk. It’s healthy to have mini-breaks throughout the day.

Learn to receive help.

This is one of the most typical mistakes: caregivers feel they can do it all by themselves. Don’t go down into that trap. Friends and family prefer to help. Provide them with concrete propositions on how they can support so you can take some relief. It will result in making them feel useful, as well.

Set up a structure to update people about the patient’s progress.

Everyone who knows you and the patient will prefer to know how the treatment is going. Consider building an independent personal web site or a social media page to keep friends and family informed. Twitter is a wonderful way to shoot out quick updates. You can also record a fresh message on voice mail or your answering machine every few days to let families know how things are going.