Caregiver Role

Caregivers typically provide the following support to transplant patients for up to 100 days after stem cell infusion. This timeframe may be more or less depending on the patient’s health status.

Key Tasks for Caregivers

• Providing physical care after transplant, including:
  • Caring for the central line (catheter, a thin flexible tube inserted in a vein in the chest to allow the intravenous/IV delivery of medications, fluids, blood products)
  • Helping to give oral (by mouth) medications
  • Keeping track of the medications taken
• Providing emotional support
• Making a list of any symptoms the patient has or other changes in the patient’s condition, and sharing this list with the care team
• Keeping track of medications and any needed refills
• Maintaining a clean home environment after transplant
  • Home Cleaning Guidelines for Allogeneic Patients
  • Home Cleaning Guidelines for Autologous Patients
• Preparing food according to our program’s nutrition guidelines
  • Nutrition Guidelines for Allogeneic Patients
  • Nutrition Guidelines for Autologous Patients
• Providing transportation to and from medical appointments
• Attending all appointments (before, during, and after transplant) and preparing and taking notes during the appointments
• Keeping family and friends updated on the patient’s treatment, well-being, and health status
• Monitoring the number of visitors and making sure visitors respect the patient’s need for rest and recovery (and your need for the same)

You may be the person doing all of these tasks, or you may choose to divide the responsibilities with others as part of a larger caregiving team. Read more about building a caregiving team and getting the support you need.

You will get a lot of information from the patient and the care team throughout the transplant process. To stay organized, it can be helpful to:

• Keep the information together in one place  
• Write down appointment and procedure dates
• Keep track of care team names and contact information
• Write down questions for the care team in a notebook you carry with you

For additional information about how you can best take an active role as a caregiver, please visit our caregiver resource pages online at www.dana-farber.org/caregivers.