 Post-Transplant Household Care
Household Care After The Transplant
For Aplastic Anemia Patients
General household care
Chlorine bleach will become one of your best friends. It is a proven fact that chlorine bleach kills 98% of the viruses on surfaces. One of the handiest ways to utilize bleach is by buying the spray chlorine bleach cleaners. Disposable wipes are the second best friend!
Bed linens
The post-transplant patient's bedding needs to be changed frequently. The recommendations for changing bed linens are:
- Pillow cases daily
- Sheets weekly, or as needed sooner such as after treatments or illnesses, and after any visits after which the patient went to bed before taking a bath or shower
- Comforters weekly, same as sheets; if it is not possible to wash the comforter on a weekly basis, it can be run through a hot dryer for as long as it takes for all fibers in the interior of the comforter to become hot for a minimum of 15 minutes
Towels
All towels should be removed from the environment on a daily basis.
- Bath towels used by the patient should be washed before reuse
- Bathroom hand towels should be removed and washed daily
- Kitchen hand towels should be removed at least daily, and washed before reuse
- Washcloths and dish clothes should be removed daily and washed before reuse
Vacuuming & Cleaning Wood, Tile or Linoleum Floors
For the first 3-12 months, Aplastic Anemia post-transplant patients cannot be exposed to particles put into the air during vacuuming or sweeping, and cannot be in the room where cleaning has occurred for at least 45 minutes after the cleaner has stopped. Included in that list are "Sharks" and other "Hoky" products that pick-up debris on the floor without a powered motored.
The caregiver should attend all clinic appointments with the patient so as to receive any additional care instructions. If another person is not available to vacuum and clean during clinic appointments, such as an outside cleaning service, the patient can go behind a closed door, put a door sock or blanket at the bottom of the door and remain there until at least 45 minutes has passed since the vacuum cleaner stopped running or the sweeping is done.
Patients and caregivers should consult their transplant medical team for specific instructions.
household cleaners
Aplastic Anemia transplant patients should never be exposed to any toxic cleaner, pesticide, insecticide, arsenic-based cleaner, solvent-based cleaner or derivatives of any toxic cleaner.
It is a known fact that Aplastic Anemia can be caused by toxic products, particularly pesticides, insecticides and arsenic.
Aplastic Anemia patients also cannot be exposed to common household cleaners, such as spray or bottled cleaners.
Handbook
There are several books on the market written for people who have undergone bone marrow transplants; unfortunately, the majority of those are written for people who had an underlying cancer, such as Leukemia. Even so, the majority of the information is accurate in one of the books that we've read: A Patient's Handbook.
Consult Your Doctor
It cannot be overemphasized: consult with your transplant doctor, listen to your transplant medical team, fly any questions and all life decisions by your medical team, and do not consult with anyone (be it an RN, a doctor, or a nursing student) who is not highly experienced in transplants!
A transplant patient has an entire set of medical needs, medications and regimes that no other person will ever be required to take, let alone become familiar with unless they are a transplant patient or a caregiver.
See also: Post-transplant care, Food Care |
