Before a transplant using donor stem cells, you will be given treatment to help you prepare for the donor's cells. This is known as conditioning treatment. You will go to the hospital about a week before the transplant date. You will be given advice on what to wear so that your stay can be more comfortable.

There are different ways of giving conditioning treatment and different levels of intensity (strength) of treatment. The conditioning treatment you get will depend on the type of cancer or leukemia you have, your health in general, and any chemotherapy or radiotherapy treatments you have had in the past.

You will have a combination of chemotherapy drugs given through your PICC or central line. Some people also receive radiotherapy to the whole body (total body irradiation).

One or two days after you conditioning treatment is done, a nurse will give you the donated stem cells through your central line or PICC. The stem cells travel through the blood to the bone marrow, where they will start producing blood cells.