Our dietitian will meet with you when you come in for your initial evaluation. The dietitian will record your height and weight, and these measurements will be used to calculate correct drug doses for you and to determine how much nutrition you will need during your transplant. If you are not able to take in enough nutrition by eating, you will be given nutritional supplements to keep you at your ideal level.
Good nutrition is important during transplant and will help you in your recovery. Our dietitian will closely follow your nutritional level during your transplant. Most patients require daily infusions of nutritional fluids or oral supplements such as Ensure or Boost. The amount of nutritional supplementation that is right for you will be calculated every day. Our dietitian will report this daily calculation to our transplant team for review. Our transplant physicians and physician assistants will then decide on the type and volume of the infusion that will be given to you each day.
We want your blood sugar levels to remain balanced during your transplant. We believe that tight controls of your blood sugar will help reduce your risk of infectious complications during your hospitalization. To keep your blood sugar levels balanced, you may receive a highly concentrated sugar solution. This may require that we also give you insulin. If you do receive insulin, it will be for short-term support. There are no risks associated with receiving insulin for short-term support.
During your recovery, our dietitian will visit you to develop a plan to gradually move away from nutritional supplements and increase the amount of food you are eating. Our dietitian will work with you to help you choose foods that will boost your nutrition. Some of our patients remain on nutritional fluids for a short period of time after they return home. If this becomes necessary for you, our dietitian will help set up home infusion for nutritional supplements. |
