Tina,
You will need a caregiver- for months if you get a SCT, Here caregivers are $35-$43 an hour. It gets expensive for 24 hour care, and if you need to hire a caregiver for you and your parents, it will add up.$. I was my mom’s caregiver for her last 6 months of life. It gets harder and harder, not easier. I ended up hiring a caregiver to help me with her. Doctors are now saying SCT is not better than treatment. Some on this site had remission for only 8 months, that’s not to say others did not have a better outcome, but most remissions last for 1 1/2 to 2 years. That’s all. It’s not a lot of time. Overall survival does not change. Your immune system does change. It will be gone. Caregivers come in from the outside world, where the germs are. Look at this decision with all the facts, not just some. Doctors don’t know what your day to day life is like, unless they have experienced it themselves.
Paula🌹

Hi Tina, it takes a good 3 months to recover from a stem cell transplant. I still needed naps after that. Getting my shower and daily walks in was sometimes all I could do. So, you will need help with your parents. I hope you can arrange home health aides and visiting nurses to help with them. You need to concentrate on your wellness. I hope you have family members that are willing to help as well. I hope you do great with transplant and get a complete response.

I was 75 yso when I had my ASCT. I will preface this with the fact that ALL patients react differently to the procedure and recover at different rates. I was an outpatient at City of Hope in California and had a very easy time. I had very little nausea and diarrhea and went home in 12 days. I had someone stay with me for the first 3 days and then a "Senior helper" who came in 3 hours a day to help with showers, clean the cat box, and start meals for me - I lived alone. However, that said, my stamina stuffed, and I found that I could only stand or walk for about 20 minutes before needing to sit, hydrate, and rest for about 10 minutes before resuming activities. Also, a short daily nap in the late afternoon helped. This fatigue level resolved itself slowly, but stamina is still an issue 6 years later.

I was pretty much doing everything at home after 2 weeks (with the exception of sweeping, dusting, and vacuuming...which are a no no). I honestly feel really good. I do try to nap every day and my appetite is no where near what it was. My nurse told me I didn't need anyone at home 24/7 .

If I remember correctly, and that has been somewhat of an issue, it took me about 60 days to feel well more or less consistently.