Pre-treatment
About 2 weeks before the transplantation, the patient begins chemotherapy and/or irradiation treatment to destroy all of his or her bone marrow stem cells. This is done to eliminate both malignant cells and normal cells, so they can be replaced by the donor's healthy stem cells. The patient, therefore, cannot form blood components at all after the procedure and becomes extremely vulnerable to fatal infections.
The patient must also bear severe side effects such as nausea, vomiting, and hair loss. The transplantation is indeed a matter of life and death.

Bone marrow transplantation using intravenous drip infusion
On the day of the transplantation, the bone marrow extracted from the healthy donor is transfused into the patient over several hours via an intravenous drip, very much like a blood transfusion.
Recovery and social rehabilitation
The patient stays in a germ-free, sterilized room for several weeks and is closely observed for rejection and/or infection. When the donor's healthy marrow begins to produce normal blood components, the patient can be transferred to a regular hospital room, and from there, to home and then back to work or study - if all goes well.