Sensory descriptions in recalling a recent bone marrow transplant experience

The purpose of this study was to identify sensory descriptions of events and circumstances, typical of a bone marrow transplant (BMT) experience, that could be used to prepare future BMT patients for the transplant experience. The tool for data collection was a questionnaire composed of objective sensory questions relating to the transplant regimen and subjective questions relating to orientation prior to transplantation. A convenience sample of 16 subjects who had completed their BMTs within 6 months of the study, was used. All sensory descriptions used by the subjects were listed, and those that were used by at least 50% of the subjects who recalled each experience were considered appropriate to use for preparation of future BMT patients. The result is a list of concrete objective sensory descriptions which can be used to help new BMT patients construct accurate schemata in anticipation of certain events and circumstances encountered in having a BMT.