5 Tips That My Friend Shared With Me For Life After a Stem Cell Transplant

Sophia was diagnosed with stage III myeloma, which is a type of blood cancer. She was working as a teacher in an engineering college. The diagnosis came as a shock for her. She needed a stem cell transplant to produce blood in her body and also some other components for her immune system to work. Her own stem cells were recovered and harvested in a system. These cells were then put back into her body intravenously. After a 3-weeks hospital stay, she returned to her home to face a new set of challenges. Here are 5 tips that she shared with me to recover from the transplant.

1.Read the post-transplant manual

Ignorance is bliss, but it can be pretty dangerous for you if you have just returned home after a transplant. There is no substitute for staying updated about the post-transplant care. Get help for readying your home. Nothing could be better than a disinfected, and clutter-free home. Let your family and friends take up the task of dusting, organizing, laundry, and vacuuming. And you enjoy the break from the household work!

2.Keep talking and laughing - even in isolation

Infection is a major concern for the patient. Sophia had to limit face to face interactions with her family and friends for 2-3 weeks. During this period, they would wear masks and gloves.

However, you can always talk and laugh with your near and dear ones using Skype and other video chatting technologies. Sophia had to wait for about 30 days before her first public outing.

3.Do not attempt to do everything on your own; recognize your limitations

Managing 3 small children can be a tough job. So, Sophia would take a nap in the afternoon before her 3 school going kids would come back. This would energize and prepare her for the late afternoon and early evening rush.

Her husband would take over the household tasks once he arrived from his office.

4.Build up your strength

After the bone marrow transplant, you may feel as weak a new born baby. And you'll have to start all over again. Sophia started walking in her small garden the first few days, and then went on increasing distance and time outside. She gradually but continuously built up her strength.

5.If you have kids, adapt to stay safe

Sophia could be around her kids as long as they were not sick. Kids too didn't mind wearing masks and gloves during the first few weeks. Safety was the top-most priority, at least during the first 100 days after transplant. So when the kids would jump off their school bus and reach home, hand wash and cloth changing were the first requirement.

Sophia is pretty well these days. And she always takes out time to pray, love, and be loved. The message that Sophia gives is clear: there is life after stem cell or bone marrow transplant.

Don't give up if you have been diagnosed with cancer. Bone marrow transplant /stem cell transplant is a life-saving procedure, and with the tips shared above you can recover quickly after the transplant. Don't give up. Live your life to the fullest.

By Aaditya Sardwal

Causes of High White Blood Cell Count

There are several possible causes for a high white blood cell count. This count is high when there are more disease-fighting cells in your body. The technical term for this condition is leukocytosis.

Different medical practices may have different limits by which they define high white blood cell count. A count of 10,500 leukocytes in one microliter of blood is widely accepted as a high count. The threshold may vary between sex and age.

White blood cells are categorized by five subtypes, and each type has a different activity in fighting disease. When you get the results of your white blood cell count, they will usually specify what the levels are of all the different types. Usually, a high count is only caused by an increase in one type of white blood cells.

A high white blood cell count is indicative of an immune system problem that increases their production; a disease in your bone marrow that causes high blood cell production; a reaction to some drug that is used to enhance cell production; or the increase expected when your body is fighting off an infection.

There are some more specific reasons why your white blood cell count may be high:

Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) is a cancer that lives in the bone marrow and blood. This disease is a rapidly progressive one. Children are more affected by this than any other type of cancer, although adults can develop the disease as well.

Drugs like epinephrine and corticosteroids can affect your white cell count.

Measles is an infection that affects mainly the respiratory tract. It is very contagious. The signs include skin rash, fever, sore throat, inflamed eyes, runny nose and cough. The measles vaccine is an excellent way to protect children against this disease, but outside of the civilized countries, many children are not vaccinated. This disease will spread rapidly among people who have not had the vaccination.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a serious type of arthritis from which you will experience joint damage and pain. It attacks your joints' lining and this causes swelling. In turn, that leads to throbbing, aching pain and possibly eventual deformity. Rheumatoid arthritis, also called RA, can make even the easiest of normal activities hard to accomplish.

Some of the other causes of high white blood cell count include:

Stress, be it emotional or physical
Smoking
Tuberculosis
Tissue damage, like one receives with burns
Acute or chronic myelogenous leukemia
Chronic or acute lymphocytic leukemia
Whooping cough
Severe allergic reactions
Myelofibrosis
Polycythemia vera
Other viral infections
Other bacterial infections

By Sara Le

Leukemia Cures and Natural Treatments

Are you looking for a fresh approach to leukemia cures? If so then you may want to know that there are natural leukemia cures available. Many people who have cancer find themselves looking for these cures simply because the traditional medical treatments for these illnesses take so much out of the patient physically. This being said it is certainly not uncommon to find that many are looking for cures that don't make them as sick and don't leave them feeling completely and utterly drained.
Alternative natural treatment methods include detoxification and oxygenation that you could use to cure yourself of cancer. As for their loved ones, they may even be the ones that see it first and begin the search for a natural method because seeing their family member go through so much might simply be too much for them to handle, and they are not even the ones enduring them.
Why are natural treatments better?
Natural treatments have been proven to actually cure cancer just like the medical treatments have. The best part of these is as mentioned above the side effects are nothing in comparison to the side effects of the chemical treatments. Most of the natural remedies actually have no side effects at all. These might be what draw so many people to those natural treatments.
After all who would want to go through the nausea, vomit, fatigue, and hair loss, not to mention other side effects these chemical treatments can cause? Should you decide that you are in preference to the chemical treatments you should know that there are also some natural treatments that you might be able to use at the same time to help optimize your chances of remission.
This is not to say that all natural remedies work for all people because they simply don't. What it is saying is that there is a great chance of remission using natural methods as well though just like chemotherapy does not work for everyone you may find that a few of the natural remedies don't work for you either. You may also find that you get the best results by using several different natural remedies at one time. This is the best way to optimize your results with natural treatment.
What are some natural treatment methods?
There are lots of natural treatment methods that you can use. As mentioned above you may even choose to use more than one treatment method at a time. This could be two or more natural methods or a chemical method with a natural method. If you are undergoing any kind of treatment or taking any medications you will need to be sure to discuss these methods with your doctor before you start taking them. Even if you aren't going through treatment or medication it is still a good idea for this to be brought up.
You should never use a natural method without reporting it to your treating physician having a doctor over see you is still very important to your health and in getting the treatments that you need. Many times your physician will not see problems in the natural methods of your choice if there should be a conflict however because of your current treatment or medication then your doctor should be able to tell you which natural methods you can use to get you going with the natural treatment that you desire.

By Ty Daniel