A bone marrow transplant or BMT is a treatment that replaces an unhealthy bone marrow with a healthy marrow.

In the bone marrow transplant process, a donor’s healthy blood-forming cells are taken and transferred to a patient’s bloodstream. These cells start growing and making healthy white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets. Patients are given high doses of chemotherapy before undergoing the transplant.

Doctors use a needle to obtain bone marrow samples from different parts of the hip bone. Patients are given anesthesia during this process. There are three basic steps that are followed in a bone marrow surgery:
• Collecting healthy stem cells
• Conditioning or preparing the body to receive the stem cells
• Placing the new cells in the body

Certain foods like protein (animal and plant protein), bone broth, and foods rich in vitamin B12 and folate promote bone formation and bone health

It takes about three to six weeks for the body to acheive a steady return to normal blood cell counts. Patients are asked to stay in the hospital for few of these weeks.