transplant rejection
 

Hi
a friend of mine had a bone marrow transplant Saturday 5/23. Last night I got a message that his body was rejecting the transplant, and they had induced a coma. he is in his late 60's and this is the second transplant he has had. is this common? and what should I expect? he is in an isolation ward and the nurses are keeping me posted on his condition. please any information would be helpfull

jplatt,

This is very unfortunate news. Rejection by the immune system, called graft failure, is unusual, but when it happens they may want to get the donor to provide more bone marrow or white blood cells.

A patient who received radiation or chemo to kill his or her faulty bone marrow is in a precarious state at the time of a transplant, because the old immune system is gone and the new immune system is yet to be implanted. That's why they try to get the timing just right. I assume that the induced coma keeps him stable until they have a chance to take action.

There are no guarantees, but if you need some inspiration, here's proof that patients can make it through transplant rejection.

Do you know if the bone marrow donor was a relative or someone found through the bone marrow registry?

thank you very much for your reply. the transplant was through a registry. I know it wasn't an exact match. i guess all i can do right now is wait for the updates from the nurse and pray for the best. we had planned to get married in a couple of months. again thank you

This must be an emotional shock and very traumatic for you and your families.

Let's hope for the best for your fiancé. I hope you have people close by to support YOU as well.