Expectations after surgery:

Ideally, a bone marrow transplant lengthens the patient's life.

After a transplant, you can go back to most of your normal activities as soon as you feel well enough. Talk to your doctor first, however.

Other problems with a bone marrow transplant are those of all major organ transplants -- finding a donor, and paying for the transplant. The donor is often a sibling with matching tissue. The more siblings the patient has, the more chances there are of finding a matching donor.

Convalescence:

You will be in the hospital for 4 - 6 weeks. During this time, you will be isolated and under strict monitoring because of the increased risk of infection.

You will need attentive follow-up care for 2 - 3 months after being released from the hospital. It takes 6 months to more than a year for the immune system to fully recover from this procedure. Some people do not fully recover.